Did Critics Find Ample Steam Heat in Roundabout's Pajama Game Revival?

Seven-and-a-half cents does not mean a hell of a lot in today's world, but it does in the 1950s musical The Pajama Game, which opened at the American Airlines Theater on February 23. Recording star turned actor Harry Connick, Jr., making his Broadway acting debut, and Tony nominated actress Kelli O'Hara star in this tuner about love and labor relations. Did critics think director/choreographer Kathleen Marshall's production generated ample steam heat?

Here is a sampling of what they had to say:

Rob Kendt in his Broadway.com Review: "The show's generic professionalism ultimately makes this starched and pressed Pajama Game resemble a road-show museum of the mid-century American musical, with players who know all the old moves but not what they signify. The fault can't be laid entirely at the feet of Marshall or the Roundabout Theatre, except insofar as they failed to recognize the irredeemable flimsiness of George Abbott's libretto, or to realize that Richard Adler and Jerry Ross's score has a few choice bits of ear candy and a bunch of milky duds. The Pajama Game is exactly the sort of charming artifact, in other words, for which the Encores! series was created."

Ben Brantley of The New York Times: "Mr. Connick, best known as a velveteen crooner, and Ms. O'Hara… provide the fiery kick in a show that goes down as easily and intoxicatingly as spiked lemonade at a summer picnic. This Pajama Game, which features an immortal pop-hit-spawning score by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, has the look of an Eisenhower-era Neverland, all striped and spotted pastels that suggest that God whipped up the world in a confectioner's kitchen… [Marshall] finds the sharper patterns of an eternal and conflicted mating dance amid the polka dots… Popping with percolating hormones, this Pajama Game reminds us that in 1954, the age of rock 'n' roll was just around the corner, and the sexual revolution was only a decade away."

Clive Barnes of The New York Post: "It's a rare musical revival that actually matches-perhaps even surpasses-a much-loved original. Yet this is the marvelous case of the new Roundabout Theatre production of Richard Adler and Jerry Ross' 1954 The Pajama Game… It stars an absolutely revelatory Harry Connick Jr. and is staged and choreographed with amazing grace and zest by Kathleen Marshall. And did I mention Harry Connick Jr.?... Marshall deserves the rank of Field Marshal for the way she deploys her troops-and not least in the choreography."

Howard Kissel of The New York Daily News: "Whenever Harry Connick Jr. is onstage, the revival of the 1954 musical The Pajama Game absolutely sizzles… Especially in 'New Town,' he gives the song incredible intimacy-he makes us think we're not in a big theater, but a small, quiet room where someone is confiding in us. Too little about the revival, however, has this vitality and truthfulness… The book was always the trickiest part of the show. The new version, by Peter Ackerman, only makes it seem clunkier… O'Hara sings splendidly, but we don't sense a tough broad who surrenders to Sid only reluctantly. She's too much the standard ingénue."

David Rooney of Variety: "With his [Connick's] handsome wholesomeness and those mellifluous Sinatra-esque pipes, it's hard to imagine a leading man more tailor-made for this 1954 show. The really good news, though, is that most everything else in the candy-colored Roundabout revival is equally on the mark, from Connick's beguiling co-star, Kelli O'Hara, to the vocally and comically gifted ensemble… Kathleen Marshall avoids any hint of contemporary knowingness, presenting this quintessential '50s fluff for exactly what it is. Marshall's direction favors crispness and polish over innovation. The respect and affection she shows the material is a tonic, rescuing a delightful show from the obscurity of high school and community theater stagings."

Michael Kuchwara of The Associated Press: "Marshall has an obvious affection for the material, but her take on The Pajama Game doesn't slavishly duplicate the original. Instead, she wisely plays to the strengths of her performers, showcasing them in the best possible light… Connick croons in a style that suggests Frank Sinatra with a dash of Elvis Presley thrown in for good measure… The svelte O'Hara, playing a character appropriately named Babe, is sensational. She is a performer who has grown from role to role."

Elysa Gardner of USA Today: "This 1954 romp about a pajama-factory superintendent who falls for a union member isn't the enduring marvel that Music Man is, but Marshall milks its considerable charms for all they're worth.Those charms owe partly to Game's small-town spirit, which Marshall indulges without condescension. Her exhilarating production numbers range from a sexy 'Steam Heat' to a rollicking 'Hernando's Hideaway.' The latter becomes a showcase for the piano-playing prowess of Harry Connick Jr. Though a bit stiff at first, Connick makes the superintendent's earnestness convincing and wields a self-deprecating charm. The real revelation here, though, is leading lady Kelli O'Hara."

Linda Winer of Newsday: "Kathleen Marshall's botched revival, which the Roundabout Theatre Company opened last night, manages to be both busy and bland… We appreciate Connick's old-smoothy singing in his Broadway debut-a style that's more Sinatra crooner than traditional John Raitt baritone. Despite being tall and pumped-up, Connick has an almost endearing hangdog balefulness that seems more comfortable in melancholy ballads than at picnic hoedowns and slap-happy union rallies. But he really perks up for his bizarre, interpolated jazz-piano riff at the tango hideaway… Marshall goes for forced-funny faces and squeaky-funny voices instead of substance and psychological coherence… Marshall's choreography is mostly generic and literal."