The Pajama Game At The Shaftsbury Theatre
Reviewed by Lydia Parker.
The Pajama Game is enjoying a sparkling new revival at the Shaftsbury Theatre, having transferred from The Chichester Festival Theatre. Although the original 1954 Broadway production was famous for the daring dance numbers by Bob Fosse, in this production the dancing also shines, thanks to choreographer Stephen Mears.
Director, Richard Eyre, was inspired to direct The Pajama Game as it was the first musical he had ever heard- his sister owned the record when he was a child and played it incessantly. The music, by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, is indeed lovely, especially the numbers sung by leading man Michael Xavier, who plays Sid Sorokin, an ambitious superintendent in the Sleep Tite Pajamas Factory. Sid’s plans for success are upset when he meets the union’s Grievance Committee Head, Babe, and falls head over heels in love with her. Joanna Riding, who bears a striking resemblance to Roz from the American TV show Frasier, plays Babe as a tough cookie, a woman who is strong enough to fight for her fellow workers but can still go weak at the knees at the sight of the handsome Sid. The two actors seem to really enjoy performing together and have a nice chemistry between them.
The story of a strike at a pajama factory over seven and half cents per hour pay rise is an unusual subject for an American musicalwritten in the fifties, especially when one of the union leaders is a woman. Most of the story is quite light hearted and never gets too serious, even when Babe cannot reconcile her attraction to Sid, who is against the strike, with her support for the union members. A few double entendres and a sexy scene where Sid keeps trying to seduce Babe while her father is out of the house, remind us that the fifties in America was not a time of innocence.
The ensemble work well together, despite some over acting by a couple of minor characters. The show is nearly stolen by Peter Polycarpou as the “time study expert” Hines, who is hilarious in the number “I’ll Never Be Jealous Again” with Sid’s secretary Mabel, played by the glorious Claire Machin. As she tries to convince him not to get into jealous rages over blonde and leggy Gladys, his faithful girlfriend, Mabel sets up more and more impossible situations for him to keep his cool and trust her. It just gets funnier as it goes along and they are both a delight to watch. Alexis Owen-Hobbs was also a standout as the ditsy Gladys, who manages to end up in situations where she has to have a dance number.
The show picks up pace in the second act and becomes a real Broadway musical with all the energetic dance numbers and charming songs that one would expect. This is a treat for the whole family.
Shaftesbury Theatre Box office 020 7379 5399 or visit www.thepajamagamethemusical.com
