Staff Writer
Contributed photoINTRIGUE AT HERNANDO’S HIDEAWAY – Gladys (Kori Kinney) has her eye on Sid (Rich Flora), but he only has eyes for her key. Jealous sweeties Babe (Madelyn Carson) and Hines (Kent Smith) look on. The Presque Isle High School Shipmates’ Playhouse fall musical production, “The Pajama Game,” opens Friday at PIHS.
According to music director Jay Nelson, “The Pajama Game” is a story within a story.
“The larger story is a battle between labor and management (the union is bucking for a 7.5 cent raise) at the Sleep Tite Pajama Factory in Iowa,” he said. “The inner struggle is the on-again, off-again love relationship between Sid (management) and Babe (union).
“The musical itself is based on the novel ‘7 1/2 Cents’ by Richard Bissell and features music by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross,” said Nelson. “The original Broadway run began in 1954 and ran for 1,063 performances. There have been two revival runs, one in 1973 and the most recent in 2006.”
The 1954 original show received the Tony Award for Best Musical and the 2006 revival won the Tony for Best Revival of a Musical. The 2006 revival production featured Harry Connick Jr. in the role of Sid. There was a movie made in 1957 with Doris Day and John Raitt playing the lead roles.
Nelson and stage director Tamia Glidden said they perused many musicals this spring before choosing “The Pajama Game.”
“We liked the style, setting and music,” said Glidden, “and it seemed the perfect fit for this year.”
“We had narrowed it down to two selections but found that the other show was too similar to last year’s production of ‘Seussical,’ therefore ‘The Pajama Game’ got the nod,” Nelson said. “As the musical director, my main concern is always whether or not the music actually fits the group of students that we anticipate having show up for the musical. The bottom line is that the music has to fit the voices of these high school singers.
“Along with that, I look for a storyline that works with high school students, songs that will appeal to the kids and the audience alike, and especially the vocal ranges of the songs,” he said. “Due to expanded vocal ranges, many musicals do not work as well with high school students, and many newer shows are either unavailable due to copyright issues or have thematic material that is questionable for school performances. ‘The Pajama Game’ has great roles, great music and a good storyline that seemed to work well for us this year.”
Set director Joe Zubrick said this year’s sets are more suggestive than realistic.
“Design is about locating the action of a play in a specific context – social, economic and cultural,” he said. “Much of this play works at capturing a long lost vision of American society, the period after World War II; the American spirit and culture were in ascendancy around the world. The sets service the variety of locales depicted in the script and attempt to recreate the sense of energy and ‘can do’ American spirit.
“Design elements are successful if they help the audience understand the play and if they don’t get in the way of the activity,” said Zubrick. “This year, we’re using more of the ‘in one’ device, which plays transitional scenes in front of the main curtain. That allows for more elaborate set up behind the curtain and minimizes the vista (in the sight of the audience) changes.”
Among the more familiar songs found in “The Pajama Game” include “Steam Heat,” “Hey There” and “Hernando’s Hideaway.”
“For Doris Day fans or more astute Broadway buffs, ‘I’m Not At All In Love’ may be familiar, too,” said Nelson.
The directors have been pleased with how well rehearsals have been going.
“Overall the students have been very well prepared and are taking things very seriously. That is not to say that we are not having fun because we definitely are,” said Nelson. “We typically begin things prior to the harvest recess and ask the kids to come back from the break with their parts memorized. I was very impressed by how many of our students actually rose to the challenge. In fact, I would say that the majority of this year’s group had things memorized much more early than those from the past several years. That has made the past few weeks of rehearsals go much more smoothly and we have actually finished rehearsals early most nights.
“With the final push of tech and dress rehearsals this week,” he said, “we anticipate another year of phenomenal musical performances by these great kids at PIHS.”
“The kids are doing a great job and will be ready when the curtain goes up Friday night to give some memorable performances,” said Glidden. “Kelly Mathes is our costumer again this year, and she’ll take us back to the 1950s with her talented costume design. A lot of the audience will remember the cat eyeglasses and sweater sets. We’re also pleased to have Brittany Cronin join us as our new choreographer. She’s doing a wonderful job. Wait until you see ‘Steam Heat’ and her nod to the original Broadway choreographer Bob Fosse. It’s great!”
The community is encouraged to attend one of the seven performances.
“It will be a great night of musical and theatrical fun for anyone and everyone who chooses to come,” said Nelson. “PIHS has established a tradition of excellence in producing musical theatre productions and this year will be no exception. The kids are doing a great job and we would encourage everyone who reads this article to come support these fine young people by attending one – or more – performances of ‘The Pajama Game.’”
“The Pajama Game” cast, crew and pit includes Katie Buckley (hair), Liana Cao (set), Courtney Carney (set), Madelyn Carson (Babe Williams), Keith Clark (Pop), Kevin Coppola (set), Alex Corey (set), Brittany Cronin (choreographer), Deidre Dicker (Poopsie), Hayden Dow (Merle), Zach Dow (lights), Zachary Dube (Charlie), Paul Elish (woodwinds), Jared Escobar (set), Mykala Faye (Sara Ann), Betsy Fitzherbert (make up), Rich Flora (Sid Sorokin), Tamia Glidden (director), Kyle Goupille (trumpet), Kyle Green (assistant director/instrument ensemble), Nick Green (Prez), Christina Hallowell (Mary Pat), Mariah Hanning (set) and Codie Henderson (set).
Also, Kori Kinney (Gladys), Kristina Lord (Brenda), Kelly Mathes (costume design), Hannah Nelson (Virginia), Jay Nelson (music director), Rachel Olugbemi (Doris Carmen), Ashley Rakes (set), Scott Rhynold (Vinal), Chloe Rossignol (Rita), Aiden Sawyer (Hasler), Katy Schneider (Mabel), Adam Scott (trumpet), Jon Simonoff (bass), Dan Sipe (Max), Kent Smith (Hines), Jenna Soucy (set), Ashley Soucy (Sandra Charlene) Matt Sullivan (lights), Joe Theriault (set), Rod Thompson (guitar), Sophie Willette (Mae), Dale Winslow (Joe) and Joe Zubrick (set design/construction).
Performances are at 7 p.m. Nov. 6-7 and Nov. 12-14 at the PIHS Auditorium, with a 2 p.m. Saturday matinee Nov. 7 and 14. Tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for students and seniors, and are available at the PIHS main office, Goin’ Postal, the Aroostook Centre Mall customer service desk and at the door.
