Theater review: 'Pajama Game' gets first-rate production

Despite having won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 1954 and for Best Revival of a Musical in 2006, "The Pajama Game" belongs squarely in the second echelon of Broadway musicals. But this is the genre of show that director/choreographer John Command specializes in, and his Bloomington Civic Theatre production is more entertaining than it has any right to be.

At the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, workers are threatening to strike. The script does not take the labor dispute seriously, using it merely as backdrop for a contentious romance between the male plant supervisor and a female labor leader. And the love story is strictly by the numbers. The book seems more interested in providing cues for songs than establishing a coherent plot.

Much of the score, other than the three hit tunes, is second-rate. But from the Overture, under Anita Ruth's capable direction, the accompaniment has an infectious energy. Having a 17-piece orchestra in the pit makes a difference.

First and foremost, this is a dance show. Command pulls out all the stops. From an elegant soft-shoe number to athletic, even acrobatic, chorus numbers, his inventiveness and sense of period style is out of this world. Timmy Hays does a star turn in the two big numbers, "Steam Heat" and "Hernando's Hideaway."

The supporting cast is universally strong, especially Edward Williams Jr. as the horn-dog union president, and Natasha Nilson as a secretary with great comic timing, not to mention high kicks.

The leads are a mixed bag. Michael Kaup, as the plant supervisor, has a pleasant voice, but is wooden. He cannot surmount his corny dialogue. As the union leader, Stephanie Anderson is a dazzler. When she reprises the hit ballad, "Hey There," she invests with all the passion and commitment that was missing in Kaup's rendition.

Once again, set designer Robin McIntyre does a jaw-dropping job of recreating the period theatrical style. His elaborate series of drops are works of art in themselves.

If anyone can make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, it's John Command. And he almost pulls if off with "The Pajama Game."

William Randall Beard is a Minneapolis writer.