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Synopsis

Act One

Scene One: The show opens as Hines dances on to the accompaniment of a musical vamp, and introduces the play as, a very serious drama," which is, "full of symbolism." He tells the audience he works as a Time Study man at the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and sings about how much he enjoys working there ("The Pajama Game").

Scene Two: A traveler opens to reveal the factory shop floor, where there is a double row of sewing machines. Hines looks at his watch and tells the seamstresses to hurry their work. Prez, the president of the union, enters the shop looking for his lost lunch bucket. After teasing and flirting with two female workers, Prez is joined by Joe, another factory worker, who asks him about the status of the union's demand for a 7 1/2 cent raise. Prez declares if they don't get the raise, the workers will go on strike; Joe and the women agree. Hines introduces Hasler, the head of the company, who enters as Joe and Prez exit. After accusing one of the seamstresses of wasting material and yelling at another to turn off the lights, Hasler begins yelling for his secretary, Gladys. When she enters, Hines confesses to the audience he is in love with Gladys. Hasler asks Gladys the whereabouts of the new superintendent; Gladys asks Mabel, the superintendent's secretary. Mabel announces the superintendent is in the boiler room. Hasler demands that Gladys write a letter to the Board of Directors. As the women listen, Hasler dictates that the 7 1/2 cent raise is unnecessary. When the women react, Hasler orders Hines to keep the production line moving quickly.

Hines looks at his watch, taps his foot and orders the workers to hurry. The workers complain about Hines, the speed of the production line and their need for the raise ("Racing with the Clock"); they also discuss the new superintendent, as Hines tells them to hurry.

The lunch bell rings and the women exit as Sid Sorokin, the new superintendent, enters with Charley and two helpers. Sid begins to fix a machine as the two workers speculate that Sid won't last long in his job. When they begin discussing wages at other factories instead of helping Sid, Sid gets angry and pushes one of the helpers. The helper claims he's been injured and goes off to file a complaint with the Grievance Committee. Sid sends Charley to the storeroom for a piece of equipment and sings about his determination to overcome his worries about moving to a new town in order to take a new job ("A New Town Is A Blue Town").

Hines, Hasler and Gladys enter. Hasler complains to Sid that he's been looking for him and Gladys tells Sid to ignore Hasler. Hines accuses her of flirting with Sid, and they get into a short argument, which ends with Gladys and Hines exiting. After reprimanding Sid, Hasler also exits, and Sid again sings of his determination to stay on the job (Reprise - "A New Town Is a Blue Town").

The Grievance Committee - Babe Williams, Brenda and Mae - enters with the two workers. Babe questions Sid about the pushing incident as Hines tells Sid Hasler wants him in the office; during their conversation Sid flirts with her. As a bell signals the end of the break, the women enter and again complain about the pace of the work (Reprise - "Racing With The Clock").

Scene Three: Joe complains to Prez about the slow progress of the raise negotiations as Babe and some of the other women enter discussing the pushing incident. Babe tells the women she knows the worker wasn't hurt; the rest of the women discuss Sid's attractiveness and tease Babe about how she seemed to notice it, too. As she denies this, saying he is really not her type, the other women continue to tease her ("I'm Not at All in Love").

Scene Four: Gladys enters the office as Mabel sits at her desk. Poopsie, one of the workers, enters selling tickets to the annual company picnic. Hines enters and Poopsie asks him if he plans to do his knife-throwing act at the picnic. When he says he is, Gladys tells Poopsie she met Hines at the Majestic Theatre while he was performing his act. After Poopsie leaves, Gladys puts a note on Sid's desk; Hines again accuses her of flirting with Sid. They get into another argument, which ends when Gladys again storms out. Mabel scolds Hines about his jealousy. When he promises he won't be jealous again, Mabel makes up different provocative scenarios involving Gladys and othe rmen, to see if he can control his jealousy ("I'll Never Be Jealous Again"); the number ends in a soft-shoe dance.

After the dance, Hines exits as Hasler enters complaining about the workers. He begins yelling at Gladys when he sees she has left the company ledger book on her desk. The ledger book should be, and usually is locked away.

Sid asks Mabel questions about Babe, on whom he clearly has a crush. Mabel tells him she was engaged to be married once, but Hasler again enters, this time complaining Gladys is crying.

Sid calls Prez and asks him to send the Grievance Committee - Babe - up to his office. Mabel leaves soon after Babe arrives, and Sid asks Babe for a date. Babe refuses him because he represents management and she represents labor. After she leaves the office, Sid sings of his disappointment at Babe's refusal and of his own feelings for her ("Hey There"); he has left the Dictaphone on and as he sings the song again, he has a duet with his recorded voice.

Scene Five: Everyone enters ready for the picnic. Prez begins flirting with Gladys, telling her she is beautiful and his wife doesn't understand him ("Her Is"). The number continues as they dance and Gladys continues to say "no" to Prez.

Scene Six: The Scene begins as the workers sing the company song ("Sleep-Tite"). Prez introduces Hasler, who speaks about the dangers of rising production costs. Prez announces after the eating comes the knife-throwing, which will be followed by the three-legged race and a baseball game. Sid flirts with Babe as some of the couples participate in the race. Hines, who has been drinking, begins his act; Gladys scolds him as he throws. Hines calls for a volunteer to stand with an apple while Hines throws his knives at it; Babe volunteers. Hines throws a few times. Sid, nervous about Babe, breaks up the knife-throwing exhibition. He and Babe agree to take a walk together. Sid sings of his happiness as the rest of the picnickers join in ("Once-A-Year-Day").

Scene Seven: As the picnic begins to wind down, Prez flirts with Mae, who accepts his advances (Reprise - "Her Is").

Scene Eight: Sid visits Babe and her father, Pop, at their house. When Pop leaves for his railroad job, he gives Sid his stamp collection to examine. Babe offers to cook a western omelet for them. Sid complains Babe is using small talk to avoid him, which she denies ("Small Talk"); they kiss at the end of the song. Babe removes her dress while she cooks, and warns Sid that the 7 1/2 cent raise will come between them. They announce their love for each other and sing the last few lines of the song again.

Scene Nine: Prez announces Hasler has called a meeting with the union leaders for the next day. They also briefly discuss Babe's romance with Sid. Babe enters and tells them because she has a date with Sid, she won't be joining them after work. Sid enters and they reaffirm their love ("There Once Was A Man").

Scene Ten: Babe, Mabel, Poopsie and Brenda wait for news of the union meeting with Hasler. Prez, Joe and Mae enter, annoyed about the meeting with Hasler. Hasler enters; he and the committee discuss the raise, but Hasler refuses to give in. Prez calls a production slowdown, and all the women at the machines begin working very slowly. Hines enters and demands they speed up; the women complain about the pace again, only this time in slow motion (Reprise - "Racing with the Clock"). When Babe causes a breakdown in the entire production line, Sid fires her and tells himself to forget her (Reprise - "Hey There").

Act Two

Scene One: The Scene opens on Prez making a speech to the workers; he ends by introducing Gladys, who, with two male assistants, will provide the evening's song-and-dance entertainment ("Steam Heat").

Scene Two: Prez and a group of workers hold a meeting in Babe's kitchen to discuss ways of forcing Hasler to give in to their demands. Pop comes home as the meeting is breaking up. He tells Babe he ran into Sid - whom she has not seen since her firing - at the corner tavern and has invited him to come over. When Sid arrives, he tells her he loves her, and they should continue going out together despite the fact they're on opposite sides of the wage dispute. She disagrees with him and goes to her bedroom as Pop invites Sid to look at the stamp collection. Once in her room she concedes to herself she does love Sid, but is confused about what to do, finally breaking down in tears (Reprise - "Hey There").

Scene Three: Hines tells some of the women in the factory how much the slowdown upsets him because, as a Time Study man, living his life by the clock is very important to him ("Think Of The Time I Save").

Scene Four: Sid and Mabel is in his office. Sid is on the phone while Mabel reads outrageous tabloid headlines; Hasler enters and complains about the wage demand, telling Sid he's not giving in to the workers. Max, one of Sleep-Tite's regional salesmen, enters; he asks Hines to put on a pair of pajama bottoms. When he tells Hines to take a deep breath, the pajamas fall to the floor. Sid discovers the pajamas are defective because there aren't enough stitches in the waistbands; Hasler accuses the workers of sabotage and once again announces he won't give in to their demands. After reminding Gladys of the Board of Directors' meeting set for the next day, Hasler gives her a new notation for the ledger book. When Hasler exits, Sid tries to convince Gladys to let him have the key to the book by flirting with her. She accepts his offer and tells him she knows the perfect place for a date.

Scene Five: Gladys describes the secret club they are going to as a dark, secluded place that can only be entered after three knocks on the door followed by the message "Joe sent us" ("Hernando's Hideaway").

Scene Six: The song continues in the club. The only light in Hernando's Hideaway comes from matches being lit; various couples continually call out for each other. Prez and Babe enter as Sid and Gladys have a drink. Babe's view of Sid is blocked by other customers, but he sees her as he and Gladys get up to dance. He sits down very quickly. Gladys, who hasn't seen Babe, tries to entice Sid to the dance floor by loaning him the ledger book key for the evening. When Babe sees them, she comes to their table and tells them to watch out for Hines, who is in another jealous rage. Hines drunk, enters, brandishing enters drunk with his knives and confronting Gladys, who walks out angrily after telling him she's glad she never married him. Hines plops into a chair and imagines what married life with Gladys would be like.

Scene Seven: In this Scene ("The Jealousy Ballet"), Hines imagines that after going to work in the morning, Gladys, who had been scrubbing the floor, removes her cheesy bathrobe and puts on a negligée. She waits for a sexy Frenchman, whose arrival is announced by a signal from the moosehead on the wall. Gladys and the Frenchman dance and play until the moosehead signals the arrival of another man. She rushes the Frenchman into a closet and receives a Wrestler. They wrestle around until the moosehead signals again; she rushes the Wrestler into the closet. Gladys quickly puts on the cheesy bathrobe and resumes scrubbing the floor as Hines arrives. When he opens the closet door, the men come tumbling out and dance around Gladys, who does a striptease for them. Mabel appears in an angel outfit to remind Hines of his earlier vow to trust Gladys. He breaks down into tears on Mabel's shoulder. When the men carry Gladys off, Hines follows with his knife as Mabel, still in the angel outfit, runs after him.

Scene Eight: The next morning Charley tells Sid the union committee is there to see him before their big union rally, which is scheduled for that same day. Sid, who has been reading the ledger book all night, tells Charley to send them in; he calls Hasler and asks him to come to his office. Sid tells the committee he thinks he has found a solution to the wage dispute; Prez tells Sid if Hasler doesn't agree to the wage increase, the workers will strike. The committee leaves when Sid asks to speak to Babe. He tries to make up with her, but she again refuses him because of the job dispute; she does, however, agree to meet him after the union rally.

Babe exits. A scream is heard and Gladys enters to warn Sid Hines is looking for him. Hines appears at the door, aims his knife and then disappears before he is seen by Sid or Gladys. As soon as Gladys tells Sid she heard something, a knife hits the wall near Sid's head. They duck as more knives fly through the air. Hasler enters and a knife just misses him; he's convinced Chicago gangsters are after him. As they continue to duck from the knives, the union rally begins.

Sid exits with a window opener in his hand and soon enters with Hines, who now has a bruise from the window opener on his forehead. Hines tells them he was only trying to scare Sid; Gladys exits with Hines to bandage his head, leaving Sid and Hasler together. Sid threatens to go to the Board of Directors' meeting to tell them Hasler has been falsifying the ledger book: he has discovered Hasler has already added the cost of the raise to the production costs, but hasn't given it to the workers. In addition, many orders have been lost because of the slowdown. The Scene closes with Hasler sitting to discuss the situation with Sid.

Scene Nine: At the union rally, Brenda tells Prez and some of the workers she saw Hasler going into Sid's office; when she asks if they will win if they strike, Prez tells her they will. He and Babe explain to all the workers how much the raise adds up to over 5, 10 and 20 years ("7 1/2 And A Half Cents").

Sid enters and tells them Hasler will give in to the 7 1/2 cent raise if they agree to not ask for the raise retroactively. Babe hugs and kisses Sid, and they tell each other how much they love each other (Reprise - "There Once Was a Man").

Hines explains Hasler and the union are hosting at party at the most exclusive club in town.

Scene Ten: The curtain opens on Hernando's Hideaway as Max introduces the Sleep-Tite Pajama Parade, which includes Mabel, Mae and Prez modeling pajamas. Hines and Gladys appear in pajamas. Hines announces he now trusts Gladys; as she tries to move toward two male dancers, Hines pulls her back with a chain. Sid and Babe enter; she is in pajama tops, he in pajama bottoms and explain that married life is fun. The entire ensemble then sings about how much they enjoy working in the pajama factory (Reprise - "The Pajama Game").
 

Press Release

The Pajama Game will be performed on Thursday, March 14th at 3:30 PM; Friday, March 15th at 7:30 PM; and Saturday, March 16th, at 2:00 and 7:30 PM. All performances take place in the Roslyn High School Auditorium. To reserve tickets, call the RCP Box Office at 625-6362. Visit our web site at http://rcp.roslynschools.org for further show information. Ticket prices are $10 adults and $7 students. For the Thursday matinee, tickets are $9 adults, $6 students, and Senior Citizens are admitted free.

Musical Numbers