We’ve heard that “Love conquers all,” but can it survive when the lovebirds are on opposite sides of a heated labor/management dispute?  Will they fight for their relationship, or allow a disagreement over a few pennies doom their love?   

That’s what audiences will discover in the Candlelight Pavilion’s light-hearted, often hilarious, and sweetly romantic Valentine musical, The Pajama Game.

Based on Richard Bissell’s 1954 novel, 7-1/2 Cents, The Pajama Game deals with a labor dispute over a seven-and-a-half-cent-per-hour pay raise (laughable by today’s standards), which “Old Man” Hasler (James W. Gruessing) the owner of the thriving Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory refuses to pay his workers.

All the other factories have complied, but Sleep-Tite stands firm.  Egged on by their union “Prez” (Daniel Thomas) the workers stage a “slow down” and finally threaten to strike.

Caught in the middle are the handsome new factory superintendent Sid Sorokin (John LaLonde) who desperately needs this job, and the spirited Union Grievance Committee head “Babe” Williams (Leslie Scott) who tries to resists his charms (“I’m not in love at all”), but fails.

Star struck with the blond beauty, Sid moons around his office singing the classy “Hey There!” into his Dictaphone.  A cute bit follows as he first talks back to his recorded self, and then sings a duet.  LaLonde’s powerful voice (Quixote in Man of La Mancha) is more than adequate for this leading role.

As their romance heats up, so do tensions at the factory.  There’s a romantic moment at Babe’s home (“There Once was a Man”) when the two finally share a long-awaited kiss. But later at the factory when Babe jams the assembly line in protest, Sid is forced to fire her, and their romance falters.

To save his job and his girl, Sid goes to extremes, including taking the boss’ secretary to the infamous “Hernando’s Hideaway” to wheedle an important “key” from her. What he discovers in an all-night session alone with the company “books” is the deal breaker.

Comedy veteran, Danny Michaels plays the factory efficiency expert Vernon Hines who introduces the show with Michaels’ signature deadpan stares and droll “asides” to the audience. Then, with his pocket watch open and his foot stomping like a piston he starts the assembly line rolling at top speed. 

Factory girls at their sewing machines and boys with bolts of material “Race the Clock” to turn out the requisite number of PJ’s.  In the precisely choreographed number, the factory girls twirl, do-si-do, and circle their wheeled sewing machine tables like bumper car drivers, but without mishap. It’s hysterical.

Hines extols the virtues of watching the clock to a gaggle of factory girls in his “Think of the Time I Save.”  Later he brings down the house when he’s told to drop his pants and model a pair of defective pajamas.

Hines knows that his habitual jealousy turns off his girlfriend, Gladys (Kai Chubb) so he looks to Mable, the “mother hen of the factory” (Beth Mendoza, narrator in Always, Patsy Cline), for help.  In a very funny soft-shoe and vignette duet, Mable tests his determination to “Never Be Jealous Again.”

 (With this preview of Danny Michael’s comic talent, the Candlelight Pavilion’s August show, “Will Rogers Follies” in which he stars, is sure to be a sell-out!) 

At the company picnic Hines demonstrates his “famous” knife-throwing trick, which is made risky by his inebriated state.  Sleight of hand plus a nice bit of stagecraft makes this display quite believable.  

Prez, a skirt-chaser despite being married, chases after Gladys (“Her Is”) who rebuffs him.  Later he makes a play for Mae (Jenny Strattan) who surprises him with her quick and aggressive positive response. (She wises up later.)

When the strike is averted at the last moment, Prez leads the factory workers in “Seven and a Half Cents,” a humorous ditty about all the wonderful things they’ll be able to buy in five, ten, and twenty years with all the money from their new raise.

Broadway Musical buffs will recognize in The Pajama Game overtones from many other musicals of that era, with songs, scenes, and love angles reminiscent of Oklahoma, Camelot, Paint Your Wagon, Carousel, and Guys & Dolls. It makes enjoyment of the show that much better.

Performances run Thursdays – Sundays through March 21. 

Prices range $48.00 - $68.00 and include a noon or evening fine dining experience.  

Tickets are available by calling (909) 626-1254, ext 1. 

Group rates are available for parties of 10 or more. 

For more information on ticketing or the 2010 season, visit www.thecpdt.com