The Pajama Game

Yesterday was the last showing of my high school's musical, The Pajama Game, in which I played keyed bass. While the show was good, it defintly had its faults, some of which stem from the fact it was a high school production, but most coming from the original source material.

Perhaps it is because of last year's musical, Nice Work if You Can Get It, a Gershwin-inspired musical about bootleggers and playboys during 1920's New York, that The Pajama Game took a while to grow on me. Last year's musical had some of the most fun and challenging music I've ever tried to played (tried, not succeeded- I was trying to play one of three piano parts in a Gershwin musical)- so coming from 1920's big-band era jazz features to simple Broadway-style songs was a bit of a letdown. The only number in The Pajama Game that could be considered jazz is Steam Heat, which is a non-plot-related scene inserted at the beginning of the second act, and musical took place during the 1950's in Cedar Rapids between factory workers. I'm not complaining about the setting- I live in Cedar Rapids, and having anything set in Cedar Rapids, scratch that, Iowa, is a rarity. It was fun because I was able to understand the inside jokes that people who haven't lived in Cedar Rapids their whole life wouldn't understand. What I'm complaining about is the era and the plot- the 1950's just weren't as exciting, and the plot took a while to get rolling. We traded in jazz for Broadway, flappers for garment workers, and bootleggers for secrataries. The Pajama Game was simply not as fun.

But, for what it could offer, The Pajama Game was an enjoyable musical, especially the second act. The first act dragged a bit, but how funny the second act was made up for it.

I will say this, The Pajama Game was a perfect choice for our school. The parts were all cast perfectly, and we had just the right amount of talent. In particular, the parts of Heniz, Gladyis, Pops, and Prez all were hilarious, some even earning applause in the middle of a scene. The rest of the less-funny characters were all perfect as well- all in all, the show was a great one to do with what we had.

In conclusion, my school's performances of The Pajama Game were well-done and enjoyable, but lacked the originality and pure fun of last year's Nice Work if You Can Get It. I'll put it this way- I was happy when The Pajama Game was over, but disappointed when Nice Work if You Can Get It closed.