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| Hal Linden, Barbara McNair. |
THE PAJAMA GAME [Musical Revival] B: George Abbott and Richard Bissell; M/LY: Richard Adler and Jerry Ross; D: George Abbott; CH: Zoya Laporska; S/C: David Guthrie; L: John Gleason; P: Richard Adler and Bert Wood i/a/w Nelson Peltz; T: Lunt-Fontanne Theatre; 12/9/73-2/3/74 (65)
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| Cab Calloway, Mary Jo Catlett. |
This hit 1954 musical, with its pillow-full of now standard
numbers (like “Hey, There,” “Hernando’s Hideaway,” and “Steam Heat”), returned
to Broadway under the direction of its co-author and original co-director,
86-year-old George Abbott, and with a company of racially mixed actors. The
diversity device was its only bid for novelty. In other ways, the show attempted
to recreate the 1954 staging, which had made the reputation of young co-producer
Hal Prince; even the choreography was based on the original work of Bob
Fosse.
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| Hal Linden, Willard Waterman, Sharon Miller. |
The book, based on Richard Bissell’s novel, 7½ Cents, was once considered daring for
its handling of subject matter (a factory strike) thought better suited to
leftwing drama. By 1973, it was deemed to not have worn well. Nor could making
the love story focus on a black union member (Barbara McNair) give it needed
pertinence. The scenic look was rather on the unattractive, economical side,
but the rest of the show earned a combination of bravos and complaints, while
meeting with few outright rejections. Walter Kerr thought it “genial, spirited
but eventually thinnish.” John Simon advised that “if you want an undemanding,
cheerful, warm-tub-with-Vitabath of a show, his restful revival is it.” Martin
Gottfried. on the other hand, was impressed by how the racial angle deepened the story.
Linden, McNair, and Cab Calloway were loudly praised by
most, but Clive Barnes had his doubts:
As the heroine, Babe, Barbara
McNair sings vibrantly and looks beautiful, but her acting has the wooden air
of a nightclub singer in search of a torch. Hal Linden is almost as badly
miscast. He sings modestly and acts with all of his considerable skill, but he is
not a natural juvenile lead. Cab Calloway makes as many moments as he can out
of the role of Hines, the dumb supervisor, but even with Mr. Calloway the
moments are limited. Best I suppose is Sharron Miller as Gladys, who comes over
as a tightly packaged bundle of charm.