What a Babe! Kelli O’Hara Will Star With Harry Connick, Jr. in The Pajama Game

Kelli O’Hara will star as Babe Williams opposite Harry Connick, Jr. as Sid Sorokin in the Roundabout Theater Company’s revival of the musical The Pajama Game. Presented as part of the Roundabout’s 40th anniversary season, the production will run at the American Airlines Theater January 19-June 11 and is set to open officially on February 23.

O’Hara is currently playing Clara in The Light in the Piazza, for which performance she recieved a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She will depart that show on December 4; no replacement has been named.

The Pajama Game will be directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall. The show’s creative team includes Derek McLane (sets), Martin Pakledinaz (costumes), Peter Kazcorowksi (lighting), and David Chase (musical direction). No other casting has yet been announced.

Based on Richard Bissell’s novel 7½ Cents, the show was first seen on Broadway in 1954. It concerns the thorny love affair between a pajama factory superintendent and a union representative. The Pajama Game‘s original book, by Bissell and George Abbott, is being adapted for this revival by Peter Ackerman. The Richard Adler-Jerry Ross score for the show includes such hits as “Hey There,” “Steam Heat,” and “Hernando’s Hideaway.”

O’Hara was previously seen on Broadway in Dracula, Sweet Smell of Success, Follies, and Jekyll & Hyde. Connick is one of the world’s top-selling recording artists; he appeared on Broadway in concert and earned a Tony nomination for his score for the 2001 musical Thou Shalt Not. In addition, he had major roles in the film Memphis Belle, the TV movie version of South Pacific (in which he played Lieutenant Cable), and the TV sitcom Will & Grace.