Review: 'The Pajama Game' is a beautifully sung trip into the past of musicals

I felt like I should have been wearing Brylcreem in my hair at Artistry's "The Pajama Game."

The musical, set in a Cedar Rapids, Iowa, factory where workers are campaigning for a raise, is resolutely set in the 1950s. You could maybe torture it into "relevancy" by re-jiggering it to a Starbuck's in the present day but its sexual politics, with its man-hungry gals and avoiding-the-ol'-ball-and-chain guys, are firmly in the era of poodle skirts, McCarthyism and slicked-back hair.

"The Pajama Game," from many of the same creators as the similar, better "Damn Yankees," came at a pivotal moment in the evolution of musical theater. It opened in 1954, in the Broadway era when the cockeyed optimism of Rodgers and Hammerstein still dominated musicals. But Bob Fosse — a pessimist who was more interested in the cynical underbelly of showbiz — was its choreographer and, although he was still more than a decade away from creating his own sultry shows, he slipped some of that energy into "Pajama Game."

At Artistry, where the show runs through May 14, a little of that sultriness filters into the opener of Act Two, "Steam Heat." There's not much sex in Artistry's production but it does come through in the sultry, hip-popping moves of Elly Stahlke, Maureen Sherman-Mendez and Dayle Theisen, clad in black suits with highwater pants and white socks, a nod to the Fosse original.

"Steam Heat" is not the only musical highlight of this beautifully sung production. The "Pajama Game" book is dated and surprisingly short on jokes but the songs — well, they sing.

The protagonists are new factory manager Sid (Eric Morris) and grievance committee chair Babe (Falicia Nichole), who are on opposite sides of the labor unrest but the same side of a conflicted romance. Both leads have big, expressive voices and plenty of opportunities to showcase them, particularly in Nichole's "I'm Not at All in Love," where she gives an already great song tons of personality, and Morris' "Hey There," which he belts out with such control and heart that you may find yourself hoping for a reprise (you're in luck, btw).

Director/choreographers Allyson Richert and Ben Bakken keep the show percolating briskly, with moves that sit well on a cast of 14 whose dancing skills vary. Their production is broadly performed — the actors do that thing where they deliver their shouty, emphatic lines more to the audience than to one another — but that's probably the right choice in a musical that is so firmly of its era.

There's not a lot Richert and Bakken can do about the book of "Pajama Game," which is probably why the show doesn't pop up often. But what they can do is to make sure they cast the singer/actors to remind us of the charms of the score, which also includes "Hernando's Hideaway" and "Once a Year Day."

They're glorious songs and it's great to hear them again.

'The Pajama Game'

Who: Music & lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. Book by George Abbott and Richard Bissell. Directed by Allyson Richert and Ben Bakken.

When: 7:30 p.m. Wed.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ends May 14.

Where: Artistry, 1800 W. Old Shakopee Road, Bloomington.

Protocol: Masks required at Sunday matinees.

Tickets: $48, 952-563-8575 or artistrymn.org.