Directors Note
It is highly intriguing, but ultimately futile, to contemplate how much richer our cultural legacy might have been if Mozart had lived past 35, Schubert past 31, or Arriaga (Google him!) past 19. Or if James Dean had made it beyond 24, or Van Gogh beyond 37, or Gershwin beyond 38. Or ... if composer/librettist Jerry Ross had survived beyond his twenties. When he passed away from a lung ailment on November 11, 1955, at age 29, Broadway was robbed of one of its brightest, most imaginative, and highly promising talents. Teaming with Richard Adler, with whom he shared both music and lyrics, they created two of the decade’s most enduring, and longest-running, Broadway musicals: The Pajama Game (1954) and Damn Yankees (1955). Both shows took home Tony Awards for Best Musical, and Adler and Ross remain, to this day, the only composer(s) to open, in consecutive years, two Broadway shows that ran more than 1000 performances. The two had first joined forces in 1950 and, as protégés of Frank Loesser, scored a major song success in November of 1953 with “Rags to Riches,” which, in a recording by Tony Bennett and Percy Faith, held the number one Billboard spot for eight weeks and reached the one-million sales mark. The next month, in their first Broadway outing, the team contributed seven numbers to John Murray Anderson’s Almanac, a musical revue. Loesser had already introduced Adler and Ross to legendary show producer/director/playwright George Abbott, who eventually offered the two the chance to write music and lyrics for a musical based on Richard Bissell’s 1953 novel 71⁄2 Cents. The Pajama Game, with book by Abbott and Bissell, opened at the St. James Theatre on May 13, 1954. It is notable not only for its exuberant score, amusing lyrics, and engaging storyline, but also as providing the Broadway musical premieres of Bob Fosse as choreographer (Tony Award), Harold Prince as producer, and Carol Haney (Gladys—Tony Award) and Janis Paige (Babe) as performers. The role of pajama factory superintendent Sid was taken by John Raitt, who had skyrocketed to fame as Billy Bigelow in the 1945 production of Carousel. The strength of the musical score lies just as much in its variety as in its tunefulness: from the waltz (“I’m Not at All in Love”) to the ballad (“Hey There”) to a Latin-infused comic tango (“Hernando’s Hideaway”) to a Western-style duet (“There Once Was a Man”) to a Fosse-choreographed jazz gem (“Steam Heat”). The opening of “Hey There,” sung by Sid into a dictaphone—which he then plays back to himself—is based (per a suggestion of Loesser) on the familiar opening melody of Mozart’s Piano Sonata in C. Upon Ross’ death in 1955, Adler was on his own, never really teaming up with another partner, but injecting his talents into diverse theatrical ventures, including television musicals (Little Women and The Gift of the Magi), a play (The Sin of Pat Muldoon), two Broadway musicals (Kwamina—34 performances and Music Is— eight performances), various symphonic works and ballets, and three new songs for the 2006 Broadway revival of The Pajama Game, but without ever achieving the popular success of his work with Ross. He also served as producer of Richard Rodgers’ penultimate musical Rex and of the Madison Square Garden gala in which Marilyn Monroe sang her birthday greeting to President Kennedy. And, for good measure, he was the composer of the “Let Hertz Put You in the Driver’s Seat” commercial jingle from 1959.
— Jacob Allen, Stage Director
Producer's Desk
Many of you have noticed that not every ensemble member is in every show this season. This was by design. With fewer ensemble members, each individual singer must work twice as hard in each production. We therefore chose shows that required smaller casts. This allows us to give each ensemble member at least one week off from performing. Their week off usually precedes a week in which they will play a leading role. In addition, choosing titles with shorter run times is the reason not every production has an intermission. As always, we appreciate your feedback about your experience thus far. Please send any thoughts or comments to: info@CollegeLightOperaCompany.com. Enjoy the show!
— Mark Pearson, Executive and Artistic Director
