Nobody went to bed early through the excellent
production of The Pajama Game.
Spalding Amateur Dramatic and Operatic Society
(SADOS) thrilled the audience at the South Holland Centre with a tale of love,
money and principle - and some uneasy
couplings.
Great credit should go to musical director
Anthony Grunwell and producer Marilyn Morris for a slick, funny and exciting
musical that had a real feel-good factor to it.
Sleep-Tite pajama factory staff are not happy
with their current rate of pay and are lobbying for an extra seven and a half
cents an hour, with union president “Prez” (Paul Coleman) and head of the union
grievance committee Babe Williams (Trish Burgess) leading the case.
This would be more straightforward were it not
for the fact that Babe and new superintendent Sid Sorokin (Craig Delaney) soon
fall in love with each other.
Sorokin is eager to impress his new factory
boss Mr Hasler (David Lewsey) and so tries to maintain the status quo of
efficient work while keeping the factory girls happy.
Strike action and shoddy workmanship ensues,
with Sorokin even sacking Babe at one point, but in the end he takes a closer
look at the figures and comes up with a solution to keep everybody happy.
Usually in these situations you side with one
of the main characters but in this case Babe and Sorokin are so charismatic
that you fall in love with both of them.
The chemistry between the two worked superbly
with rousing performances of Hey There, There Once Was a Man and Small Talk.
The union of lecherous Prez and gorgeous
factory worker Mae (Lisa Charnley) was the most bizarre match-up since Barry
Evans married Natalie in Eastenders – but it did work well.
The star of the show for me, and judging by
their reactions to him the audience also, was Adam Patman who brilliantly
portrayed the efficiency expert Hines.
From the moment he lurched onto the stage from
within the audience to his hilarious drunken routines and attempts to ensnare
private secretary Gladys (Jo Wilson) he summed up the obsessions of middle
management excellently and amused the audience with performances of I’ll Never
Be Jealous Again and Think of the Time I Save.
The wardrobe team of Jordan Crowson and
Harrison Fuller must be congratulated for the dazzling range of nightwear on
offer. And if there’s a more awful pair
of boxer shorts in the whole of South Lincolnshire
than those Hines was wearing, then I pity the person who owns them.
Choreography by Claire Cole was almost perfect
throughout and the orchestra was excellent in this thoroughly recommended
production.
