Milledgeville Players don pajamas

The Milledgeville Players are preparing for their next big musical, “The Pajama Game.”

The upcoming performance of this hit Broadway production showcases GCSU students and faculty along with community members’ talents.

This mesh of Milledgeville residents and university students only happens twice a year for the Players. Behind the flowing curtains of a Milledgeville Players production everyone comes together with encouragement and critique to make the play as professional as possible.

Two GCSU students co-star in this 1954 comedy.
Erin Ebrite, music education major, plays Babe Williams, the head of the Union Grievance Committee at the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory. In the play, she falls in love with Sid Sorokin, the factory’s complaint manager, played by Mathis Wilkens, political science major.

Dr. Tom Toney, biology professor at GCSU, directs the play. This is his first time directing a major production, though in the past Toney has produced and acted.

Toney has an unusual mix of theatre and teaching is, “I’m a natural ham and a pop culture fanatic.” Toney said being a director and a professor allow Toney to live his passions.
“This is a great play about the battle of the sexes,” Toney said. “Students will recognize some of the songs from their parents listening to them.”

An orchestra directed by GCSU band director Dr. Todd Shiver accompanies the play. The orchestra, composed strictly of volunteers, keeps toes tapping throughout the entire play. Hits such as “7 1/2 Cents,” “Steam Heat” and “Hernando’s Hideaway” pull the audience in with their upbeat music.

“It has the kind of catchy music that gets stuck in your head,” Ebrite said.

“The Pajama Game” extends Ebrite’s resume to include three shows with the Milledgeville Players. She has also had roles in “H.M.S. Pinafore” and “The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940.”
“I like the fact that Babe is spunky. She’s someone that I would want to be friends with,” said Ebrite about her starring role.
Wilkens likes his role of Sid.

“The character is multisided,” he said. “I get to be a jerk and a lovesick fool.”

Many of the musical’s actors and actresses have been coached by GCSU’s Jennifer Flory. This is her first time helping with a Milledgeville Players’ production. Flory is the director of the Max Noah Singers, University Chorus and Women’s Ensemble. She spends the majority of her time working with students, but in this play, she uses her expertise to benefit the cast as a whole. Emphasizing consonants and projecting voices are only some of the qualities she expects her actors and actresses to use.
“The groups mingle very well,” Flory said. “They get along so well I forget which are students and which aren’t.”

The play “The Pajama Game” is based on the novel “7 1/2 Cents” by Richard Bissell. It started on Broadway in 1954 and was choreographed by Bob Fosse. He went on to work in the production of “Liza with a ‘Z,’” the original “Chicago” and many more.

“The Pajama Game” is one of Toney’s favorite Fosse production.
“Fosse is one of the most celebrated choreographers to this day,” Toney said.

GCSU students, Mary Katharine Schaap, Meghan Flemming, Robin Eckenroth and Danielle Pratt also play significant roles in the musical.

The Milledgeville Players produce two major plays each year and several smaller productions in between. The first official play performed was “The Robber Bride Groom.” Since the group formed in 2001, several people have had the chance to act.

The performances are Thursday, Sept. 4, through Saturday, Sept. 6, at 8 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 7, will have a matinee showing at 2 p.m. All showings are in Russell Auditorium.

General admission is $15; students with ID $12; children under 12 are $10. Group rates are also available. For more
information, contact Milledgeville Players at 478-314-4054.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 5 2008. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry