All tagged The Pajama Game
It’s that time of year again, that three-day weekend celebration commemorating the That unofficial end of summer and officially celebrates hardworking labor in America. That’s right, it is Labor Day. In its honor, here is a playlist of Broadway showtunes that honor the men and women who keep the world spinning with their industry!
One of the Golden Age of Musical Theatre’s signature leading men was John Raitt. Possessing a rich, powerful singing voice (a golden baritione), good looks, and a touch of bravado, Raitt starred in two Broadway musicals that would be enormous successes in their day. John Raitt wasn’t immune to the occasional flop, and he certainly wasn’t the star of a multitude of musicals. He was, however, a personality as much as he was a performer, and today I take a look back at the career of John Raitt and revisit the shows he starred in on Broadway.
Today I thought it would be interesting to explore a certain type of Broadway love song. There are many Broadway showtunes that are declarations of love, an all-out celebration of (usually) boy-meets-girl or vice-versa and they fall instantly in love. But not every love song from musicals is an overt declaration of amour. Some of these ditties are more subtle in their approach, or ironically deny the possibility of love altogether. Here is a list of examples of some of these love songs that seem to contradict the romances that evolve from them.
One of the most-popular musicals of the 1950s and one that was subsequently performed by almost every high school and community theatre, and that featured a popular Richard Adler and Jerry Ross score, is The Pajama Game. The story of labor at a Midwestern pajama factory on the verge of union strike (in an effort to get a 7 ½ cent raise) spoke to the average working American. Complicating matters, of course, is a romance that breaks out between the factory’s new superintendent and the head of union grievance committee. In the end, everyone gets what they want.
