Pajama Game, The

Pajama Game, The (1954), a musical comedy by George Abbott, Richard Bissell (book), Richard Adler, Jerry Ross (music, lyrics). [St. James Theatre, 1,063 perf.] Babe Williams ( Janis Paige), head of the union grievance committee at the Sleep‐Tite Pajama Factory, refuses to date the factory's new superintendent, Sid Sorokin ( John Raitt), because he sits on the opposite side of the bargaining table. However, when Sid convinces the company president to give the employees a seven‐and‐a‐half‐cent raise, she relents. A subplot centers on the antics of the company's production manager, the jealous Hines ( Eddie Foy Jr.), and the flirty bookkeeper ( Carol Haney). Notable songs: Hernando's Hideway; Hey, There; Steam Heat; I'm Not at All in Love; Once a Year Day. Based on Bissell's novel, 71½ Cents, the musical was melodic and comic, with the labor‐management theme downplayed into farce. The musical was an impressive debut for songwriters Adler and Ross and for co‐producers Hal Prince and Robert E. Griffith. In his first choreographic assignment, Bob Fosse showed the wit and imagination that led him to become a major name in American musicals. Long popular on regional stages, the lightweight musical was revived on Broadway in 1957, 1973, and 1989.