Sixty years ago - May 13th 1954 - The Pajama Game opened at the St James Theatre on Broadway. To mark the anniversary, and Richard Eyre's new production in London's West End, we're re-airing an audio special first broadcast in 2011 to wish its co-author, Richard Adler, a happy 90th birthday.
In this On the Town special, Mark focuses on the songwriting team of Adler & Ross and two of the biggest Broadway hits of the 1950s, The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees. The podcast includes two exclusive rare live performances: from the Steyn archives, Mark prompts Richard Adler himself to recreate "Hey, There", the big ballad from The Pajama Game - and then Mark joins Liza Minnelli, the star of Cabaret; Gwen Verdon, the star of Chicago and Sweet Charity; the Russian ballerina Natalia Makarova; and a host of Broadway's greatest talent, from Kander & Ebb, writers of "New York, New York", to Comden & Green, writers of Singin' In The Rain, from Sheldon Harnick, the lyricist of Fiddler On The Roof, to Hal Prince, the director of Phantom Of The Opera, in a rousing performance of Adler & Ross' great showstopper from Damn Yankees, "You gotta have Heart".
We'll also hear more music from the Adler & Ross songbook, performed by Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Elton John, Peggy Lee, Elvis Presley, Sammy Davis Jr, and Allan Sherman - plus three words from The Pajama Game performed by Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra, and a famous birthday greeting from Marilyn Monroe.
To listen to this special tribute to Richard Adler and his two biggest hits, click the "play" button just above.
