The Jan 5 performance of The Pajama Game was a crowd pleaser to a full house on an evening where the weather cooperated and didn't rain as had been predicted. The play was accompanied by a seven instrument orchestra and the acting & singing were in sync to the seldom heard songs "Hernando's Hideaway" and "Hey There..." and even less heard to "Steam Heat". The lead roles were skillfully acted throughout but with greater laughter after intermission. Kevin Morrow was a very energetic Sid Sorokin with an excellent voice while Kelly McCormick was equally entertaining as Babe Williams as head of the grievance committee. The 7 & 1/2 cent call for a strike by the garment union was enjoyable but makes one wonder what it really should be today with the recent run-up in oil prices. There were few patrons in pajamas but there was a feel good ending with the colorful pajamas on stage to a standing ovation. Other than almost forgetting an umbrella the only glitch we encountered was locating the car on Blue B which was actually stairwell 5 vs. trying to find it on stairwell 4 where Blue C was located. Go Figure.
I also attended the opening night performance (Feb 7) of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and felt it was slow at first but picked up after intermission with a particularly effective shadow sequence with a cane. The acting grew more intense and for some reason the actor playing Dr. Hyde reminded me of Richard Dryefus of Jaws fame. Hyde had a response for every situation that seemed logical but deranged. For my taste musicals like the Pajama Game with more stage props and color are more entertaining but the acting in Jekyll and Hyde was top notch as noted in B F.'s review. From a personal taste point of view I would give it 2 stars and 4 stars for a clean performance yielding an overall 3. Some of the audience stood but I wouldn't call it a standing ovation which in part could be due to the subject matter vs musicals.
I remember seeing a B &W movie version growing up and in checking Amazon found at least 4 versions (1920, 1932, 1941 and 1982). Since 1982 was color it had to be one of the others. It was so long ago I don't recall the details but the play didn't give me an adrenalin rush like the movie with elaborate makeup, dark scenes and "scary" music.