/Saratoga

Mark Hanson. THE PAJAMA GAME plays July 25 (press opening: Saturday, July

26) through August 17, 2008 at the Smithwick Theatre at Foothill College in

Los Altos Hills. For tickets ($10-26) and information, the public may the

public may visit www.foothillmusicals.com, utilize the 24-hour

charge-by-phone hotline at 650 949-7414, or phone the box office at 650

949-7360.

Set in the 1950’s, the employees of the Sleep-tite Pajama Factory are

looking for a whopping seven-and-a-half cent raise and they won’t take no

for an answer. Sid, the company’s ambitious, new superintendent tries to

maintain production as usual until he meets his match in Babe, the smart,

beautiful, and feisty head of the Union Grievance Committee. A strike is

imminent, but when the two get together, they wind up discussing a whole lot

more than labor disputes. Called “a superb new musical . . . fast, raucous,

rollicking!” by the New York Daily News, THE PAJAMA GAME features some of

Adler and Ross’ most memorable songs, several of which became standards,

including “Hernando’s Hideaway,” “Hey There,” and the sultry, signature Bob

Fosse-choreographed “Steam Heat.”

Based on the popular 1953 novel 7-1/2 Cents by Richard Pike Bissell, THE

PAJAMA GAME premiered on Broadway in May of 1954 and ran for 1,063

performances.  With direction by George Abbott and Jerome Robins, and

featured choreography by Bob Fosse, the production won three Tony Awards,

including Best Musical and Best Choreographer, and is noted for starting the

career of Hollywood legend Shirley MacLaine.  A relative unknown at the

time, she was selected to understudy Carol Haney’s role, and ultimately

played it for several months when Haney broke her ankle.  The Broadway

production was revived in 1973 and again in 2006 featuring Harry Connick Jr.

as Sid.  The much acclaimed 2006 revival played for 129 performances and

garnered two Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical.

The talented cast of THE PAJAMA GAME features David Sattler, a professional

actor based in New York who comes directly to The Pajama Game from playing a

sold-out run as the lead in the Elvis Presley-based musical "All  Shook Up,"

in upstate New York.  He debuted at Foothill in 2002, playing Riff in West

Side Story.  Other local appearances include La Cage Aux Folles at American

Music Theatre of San Jose, Annie Get Your Gun, Bye Bye Birdie, and Miss

Saigon at Broadway By the Bay.  Sarah Aili makes her Foothill debut as Babe

(Credits include Argonautika at Berkeley Rep, Merrily We Roll Along at

TheatreWorks, and Little Shop of Horrors at Broadway By the Bay);  Karen

DeHart as Gladys (Credits include Guys and Dolls and Brigadoon at Foothill,

Anything Goes at American Musical Theatre of San Jose); Doug Baird as Hines

(Credits Include Me and My Girl and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas at

American Musical Theatre of San Jose, Pippin and Cabaret at Foothill, and

Peter Pan at TheatreWorks); and Michael Rhone as Prez (The Magic Flute and

Rigoletto at Opera San Jose, Emma at TheatreWorks, and Annie Get Your Gun,

Urinetown, and Brigadoon at Foothill).  Also featured are Linda Piccone;

Todd Wright; Katie O’Bryon; and Beth Anne Wells.

Jerry Ross (born Jerold Rosenberg) was an American lyricist and composer

whose legendary works with Richard Adler for the musical theatre include THE

PAJAMA GAME and Damn Yankees, winners of Tony Awards in 1955 and 1956

respectively in both the "Best Musical" and "Best Composer and Lyricist"

categories.  Ross met Richard Adler in 1950, and as a duo they became

protégés of the great composer/lyricist/publisher Frank Loesser.  Cutting

short what promised to be a very successful career, Jerry Ross died at the

age of 29, from complications related to lung disease in 1955. In his short

life Ross was extremely productive; he wrote, alone or in collaboration,

more than 250 songs in addition to his theatre work.  Ross was entered

posthumously into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1982, his wife Judy, and

daughter Janie, accepting on his behalf.

Born in New York City, composer and lyricist Richard Adler had a musical

upbringing; his father was a concert pianist and taught him from an early

age. After serving in the navy, he began his career as a lyricist, teaming

up with Jerry Ross in 1950. As a duo they worked in tandem, both taking

credit for lyrics and music.  Their first notable composition was the song

Rags to Riches, which was recorded by Tony Bennett, and reached #1 on the

charts in late 1953.  At the same time Bennett's recording was topping the

charts, Adler and Ross began their career in the Broadway Theater with John

Murray Anderson’s Almanac, a revue for which they provided most of the

songs.  Adler and Ross's second Broadway effort, THE PAJAMA GAME, opened in

May 1954 and was a critical success. Opening almost exactly a year later,

their next production,  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damn_Yankees> Damn

Yankees replicated the awards and success of the earlier show. The duo had

authored the music and lyrics for three great Broadway successes in three

years. However, their partnership was cut short when Ross passed away in

1955.

Adler continued to write both alone and with other partners, and composed a

major 1958 hit in collaboration with Robert Allen: “Everybody Loves a Lover”

as recorded by Doris Day. However, after 1955 Adler had no further successes

on Broadway either as a composer or a producer, although revivals of The

Pajama Game and Damn Yankees have proved popular. The 1973 revival of The

Pajama Game included one new Adler song, which was retained for the 2006

revival.  Adler's last original Broadway musical was 1976's Music Is (lyrics

by Will Holt, music by Adler) which was based on Shakesepare’s Twelfth

Night, but he never achieved the level of success which his collaboration

with Ross had produced.

Foothill Music Theatre, under the artistic direction of Jay Manley, has won

Bay Area Theatre Critics’ Circle Awards for Outstanding Production,

Outstanding Ensemble Production, and Best Direction, among others. The

company has also garnered numerous Dean Goodman Choice Awards, awards from

the Los Angeles-based Drama-Logue, and kudos from myriad Bay Area critics

for its sharp, handsomely mounted productions of Annie Get Your Gun,

Brigadoon, Ragtime, Sweeney Todd, Guys and Dolls, Showboat, West Side Story,

Oklahoma! and other classic musicals.