The Pajama Game, one of the hits of the 1953-1954 season, introduced a talented new songwriting team and one of the all-time great choreographers to Broadway. Two of its songs were monster hits: the tango "Hernando's Hideaway" and the ballad "Hey, There."

The setting of the story was decidedly untraditional: an industrial labor dispute. The romantic leads have to overcome the obstacle of being from management and labor with the girl being a union officer and the boy being from management. The only precedent for a labor union musical was Pins and Needles (1937), a review put on by the ILGWU to promote its political views.

The source of Pajama Game was the successful novel 7 1/2 Cents by Richard Bissell, who had actually worked on the line of his family's pajama factory in Dubuque, Iowa. George Abbott and Bissell wrote the book of the play, which was produced by Frederick Brisson, Robert Griffith, and Harold Prince. None had produced a Broadway show, nor had Bissell ever written a musical. Also new to the stage were successful songwriting duo Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The choreographer was a Hollywood dancer, Bob Fosse.

Fosse brought in his partner in a dance number from Kiss Me, Kate, Carol Haney, to play the second lead female role of Gladys, the company book-keeper. It was a memorable debut for Haney, who had worked years in Hollywood (including a stint as Gene Kelly's assistant) waiting for a big break. Her comic timing, elfin looks, and trim figure in a tight black suit made her a star.

The other leads were veterans. Janis Paige, as Babe Williams, the head of the union grievance committee, was a Hollywood and Broadway name in her first starring role in a musical. John Raitt (as Sid Sorokin, the factory superintendent) was an established leading man, best known for his leading role in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel (and, in real life, father of singing star Bonnie Raitt). Eddie Foy, Jr. (as factory floor manager and efficiency "expert" Mr. Hines) was a fine dancer and comedian who hailed from a great show business family.

The buzz on the play was positive from the beginning. Even in tryouts, scalpers were getting as much as sixty dollars a ticket in Boston. Although it opened on the unfavorable late-season date of May 13, 1954, it was an immediate smash. It was full of energy with an unprecedented proportion of comedy songs and knock-em-dead dance numbers including not only "Hernando's Hideaway" but also "Steam Heat" and "Racing with the Clock."

It was only the eighth musical in history to run over a thousand performances in Broadway (its final total on its first run was 1063). It was so popular that it was revived on May 15, 1957, only six months after it closed. However, a 1973 revival was, in the opinion of most critics, cheap and thread-bare and revealed that the story and situations were badly dated. It closed after 65 performances.

However, there was a highly successful Warner Bros. film version, with most of the cast and creative team intact, the highly popular Doris Day taking Paige's role successfully. Rosemary Clooney's cover of "Hey There" sold two and a half million copies.

In addition, show business history was made one night when Carol Haney was ill. Bob Fosse literally picked a member of the chorus to replace Haney at the last minute. As luck would have it, Hollywood producer Hal Wallis was in the audience to see the triumph of that performer and sign her with his studio—Shirley Maclaine.

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