Theater-by-the-Grove and Music Theater at Indiana University of Pennsylvania will co-produce the finale to the 2013-2014 season with the classic American musical, The Pajama Game. This clever musical comedy will be presented in Fisher Auditorium of IUP's Performing Arts Center, today, April 10-12, 2014, at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, April 13 at 2:00 p.m.
The Pajama Game won the 1955 Tony award for Best Musical. More than fifty years later, it won the 2006 Tony for Best Revival of a Musical, proving the enduring, timeless appeal of this classic Broadway musical.
Set in 1954 in a pajama factory in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the story follows the journey of Babe Williams and Sid Sorokin, two employees in the Sleep Tite Pajama Factory. Babe, the head of the union's grievance committee, and Sid, the factory's new foreman, must negotiate a labor dispute and a burgeoning romantic relationship at the same time.
Add to this the antics of other wacky characters and some beautiful, fun, and timeless music and you have a musical that presents a serious message about worker's rights and corporate greed while never forgetting to entertain.
Among the many great songs and dance music, The Pajama Game lays claim to such classics as "Steam Heat," "Hey There," and "Hernando's Hideaway."
"This musical explodes with a sense of fun and old-fashioned theatricality right from the beginning," says director and IUP professor, Rob Gretta. "It'll entertain the socks off of you in a way only Golden Age musicals can.
"Yet, there are also very important and topical themes being explored: a fair day's wage for a fair day's work along with a snap shot of how gender played a part in the workplace in the 1950s."
The community is also being urged to join the production team in giving to the Pajama Program. This national charity collects donations, new pajamas, and new books to give to needy children across the U.S. Collection boxes are located in various businesses and locations on and off campus. Audience members coming to the show may also bring their donations to the performance.
Tickets for The Pajama Game are available online at IUPTickets.com. Tickets are also sold at the Hadley Union Building on the IUP campus or by calling 724-357-1313. Tickets remaining will be sold at the door beginning one hour before the performance.
Tickets are $16 for regular admission, $13 for senior citizens and groups of 15 or more, and $10 for students and children.
For more information, contact the Lively Arts at 724-357-2787 (ARTS) or e-mail lively-arts@iup.edu.
Theater-by-the-Grove and Music Theater are programs within the College of Fine Arts and is funded, in part, by the IUP Student Cooperative Association.
