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The Pajama Game coming to Johnny Mercer
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SAVANNAH - The Tony® Award-winning Best Musical Revival of 2006, “The Pajama Game” comes to the Johnny Mercer Theatre in Savannah for one performance only on April 14 at 7:30 p.m.  

Hot on the heels of the recent Broadway smash hit, see this nationally touring musical that has audiences laughing in the aisles. Tickets, ranging from $30 to $50, are on sale now and can be purchased at the Johnny Mercer Theatre box office, online at www.savannahcivic.com or charged by phone at (912) 651-6556. Discounts are available for subscribers and groups of 20 or more by calling (912) 651-6557.

Bright and riotously funny, this fast-paced, frisky tale received two Tony® Awards for the 2006 production, including Best Revival of a Musical and Best Choreography.  This must-see musical has also received seven Drama Desk Award nominations, as well as eight Outer Critics Circle Award nominations.  The original 1954 production of “The Pajama Game” was the winner of three 1955 Tony® Awards, including Best Musical, Choreography and Featured Actress in a Musical.

“Its exuberance and spontaneity make the entire theater crackle with energy,” exclaims Variety.  “Hilarious and exciting,” declares NY Magazine. “The Pajama Game’ jumps with joy,” proclaims USA Today.

The high-energy score of “The Pajama Game,” by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, brims with popular hits and musical theater standards such as “Hey There,” “Steam Heat” and the hilarious “Hernando’s Hideaway.”

Based on Richard Bissell’s novel, “7 1/2 Cents,” “The Pajama Game” tells the story of Babe, a feisty employee representative who finds her match in the pajama shop superintendent, Sid.

Overflowing with pajamas, love, singing and conflicts between the labor union and the management, the real story is the seven-and-a-half-cents-per-hour raise the pajama factory workers are demanding to keep their salaries comparable with other garment-workers pay.

Sid pushes both himself and the workers hard in order to prove himself to the owner, but a visit by the union grievances committee in the form of lovely-but-tough Babe brings out his soft, romantic side.  Despite their love, Babe warns Sid that the turmoil between the union and the management will cause problems for them too, and Sid has to juggle his job, his heart and his conscience to find a solution that will solve everything.

The original production of “The Pajama Game” had successful pre-Broadway runs in New Haven and Boston, and opened to great reviews at the St. James Theatre in New York on May 13, 1954.  The performance starred John Raitt as Sid Sorokin, Janis Paige as Babe Williams, Eddie Foy Jr. as Hines and Carol Haney as Gladys.

The show closed in 1956 after 1,063 performances, becoming only the eighth musical in Broadway history to run over one thousand performances.

In 1957 Warner Bros. released a film version starring John Raitt, Doris Day, Eddie Foy Jr. and Carol Haney.  Directed by George Abbott and Stanley Donen, with screenplay written by Abbott and Richard Bissell, the film launched the career of Shirley MacLaine, who had been Haney’s understudy in the on-stage production.

“The Pajama Game” was revived on Broadway in 1973 with Hal Linden, Barbara McNair, and Cab Calloway as Hines. The musical was revived again in 2006 starring Harry Connick Jr. and Kelli O’Hara which took Broadway by storm with a sold out, smash hit run, earning two Tony® Award wins and nine nominations.

The creative team includes George Abbott (author/director), Richard Pike Bissell (author), and Richard Adler and Jerry Ross (music and lyrics).  The original Broadway cast recording was produced by Columbia Records.

The 2008-09 national Broadway tour of “The Pajama Game” is produced by Phoenix Entertainment, in partnership with OD Musical Company of Korea.  Now entering its ninth year of operations, Phoenix Entertainment is an international theatrical producing and management enterprise founded by long time colleagues Stephen Kane and Michael McFadden.

Over two decades of theatrical success and industry partnership have resulted in the Phoenix team delivering thousands of performances of more than 75 live productions on four continents.