WILLIAMSBURG — The Williamsburg Players recently kicked off the 2024 season with the opening of “The Pajama Game,” and WYDaily sat down with director Dillon Bates to learn more about the show.
“The Pajama Game” is a musical based on the 1950’s classic starring Doris Day and John Raitt. The musical takes place in a midwest pajama factory that is staffed almost entirely by women. The women of the garment factory are in the midst of a heated negotiation with the pajama company’s administration over a seven-and-a-half cent raise. When the administration hires a new superintendent, Sid, to oversee the female workers, Babe, one of those workers falls in love with him.
“The backdrop really is capital versus labor, battle of the sexes, women’s empowerment and dismissing them, but because it was written in 1954, it’s pretty muted compared to some of the more modern-day theater that you see,” Bates explained.
While it’s a love story between Babe and Sid, who are on opposite sides of the labor dispute, Bates also loves the age of theater the show came from.
“One of the things I really like about it is that it has that fun golden age music to it. It’s got a lot of dancing, it was a big dance show originally. We’re really lucky that we have some solid dancers and an excellent choreographer,” Bates said.
The show runs two hours with an intermission.
As Bates has been working on the show, he noted the challenge that comes with directing shows from a different time period.
“It’s hard to do dated shows because there is so much that is lost on an audience 70 years later. It doesn’t play the same. One of the really great things about “The Pajama Game” is that it remains a fun show, it’s goofy at points without getting zany, which I think a lot of older shows fall into. It also knows what it is, it makes the points that it wants to make, but it doesn’t take itself too seriously and I respect that in a show,” Bates said.
When the audience comes to see the show, Bates hopes that they leave with a sense of “teamwork makes the dreamwork.”
“There are several lessons throughout this show. One being that differences don’t necessarily divide and that is certainly shown with Babe and Sid and their love story from opposite sides. But also, just the element of perseverance, of sticking to your goals, sticking to your guns, and working together,” Bates said.
Upcoming performances are scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 19 at 8 p.m., Friday, Sept. 20 at 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 21 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sunday, Sept. 22 at 2 p.m. at the James-York Play House.
The next show scheduled for the Williamsburg Players is “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” set to open on Nov. 1.
To buy tickets or to learn more about the Williamsburg Players, visit williamsburgplayers.org.
