Curtain coming up on Metea Valley High School's first musical Possible subhead: 'The Pajama Game' offers first test for young cast

There's a serious labor dispute brewing at the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory, the kind of flap that threatens to close the whole place down.

As usual in such faceoffs, the crux of the disagreement revolves around a single word: money.

The union is looking for a 7½-cent-an-hour raise (imagine how much that would add up to over 20 years!). Management is holding firm.

It's the kind of situation destined to make mortal enemies of the male boss and the female head of the union grievance committee.

So why are they falling in love?

Doris Day dream If the whole thing sounds just a little bit corny, just a little bit like a satirical 1950s musical-comedy starring someone like Doris Day, well, that's OK because "The Pajama Game" did first take the Broadway stage in 1954 and the 1957 movie version did star Doris Day and it does poke fun at labor-management issues - all wrapped up in a musical bow of catchy tunes and knock-'em-dead dance numbers. That's part of what attracted Director Jay Fontanetta to tackle the show this weekend with a cast and crew of nearly 80 freshmen and sophomores at Metea Valley High School. And even though the show is set before many of their parents were born, it also has proved to be an attractive proposition for the students. "They get it for the most part," Fontanetta says. "The idea that love overcomes the odds isn't new to them."When the show opens Thursday night, it will be the first full-scale musical in Metea's history. It also will mark the first time a theatrical production will take the stage in the Aurora school's auditorium, which work crews didn't put the finishing touches on until February. The production is serving as a learning tool for almost everyone involved, especially because Metea's inaugural student body consists only of freshmen and sophomores.That means the spring production will serve as the theatrical debut for many members of the cast, crew and orchestra."We don't have a string of hard-core seniors to serve as mentors," Fontanetta says. "The kids have to put forth all the effort themselves."That lack of veteran leadership adds a little pressure, he says, but it also gives his young cast a chance to gain invaluable experience that will pay off even more down the road. "The emphasis on them producing (on stage) will help them become better mentors themselves," he says.History lesson When "The Pajama Game" opened on Broadway it ran for 1,063 performances. It has been revived a couple times since, most recently in 2006 with a cast led by Harry Connick Jr. When Fontanetta was looking for the school's first musical, Metea Vocal Director Nathan Bramstedt recommended checking out "Pajama." Fontanetta admits he had his doubts."I wasn't a huge fan of it originally because, I've now come to realize, Doris Day was just an awful singer," he says. "But when I heard Harry Connick did it I thought, 'oh,' and got myself the recording."What he found, he says, was a peppy, jazzy score with recognizable songs. Perhaps more important, they were songs and orchestrations that weren't going to be overly difficult to perform.Bramstedt said the singers could do it. Orchestra Director Don Devaney said the musicians could do it. So they did it.A rare opportunityFontanetta studied directing and English in college. He began his career heading high school productions for five years in Elmwood Park before moving to St. Joseph High School in Westchester where he continued directing and also joined the English department staff. He moved last year to Neuqua Valley - one of Metea's sister schools in Indian Prairie Unit District 204 - where he was both an English teacher and a member of the theater department.When Metea opened last fall, he jumped like a frog on a hot sidewalk at the chance to help create the theater department from scratch. "How often do you get an opportunity to open a new school?" he asks."Pajama Game" isn't the first play presented at Metea, but it will be the first in the spanking-new auditorium. With the facility still under construction earlier this school year, actors performed one show in the school's Commons and another in the library."We haven't done a show of this magnitude yet," Fontanetta says. "The community is very, very supportive of what we do, but I think a lot of people also will come out just to see the auditorium." Add it up: New school. New auditorium. First musical. If you're a high school director and that doesn't get your blood pumping, you're deader than George M. Cohan."It's cool all around," Fontanetta says. "We're all kind of stoked about that."Creating synergy Fontanetta's favorite part of Metea's production of "The Pajama Game" - besides the fact Doris Day isn't in it - is the large dance numbers. The show's choreographer, Ryan Doherty, is another member of the theater department and a director himself."Doherty and I make a good team," Fontanetta says. "He has a knack for choreographing the dances exactly as I see them in my head. There's some synergy there."That synergy also is working with the student dancers, who are learning that it's one thing to rehearse in sweats and quite another to perform the same moves in skirts and heels. "They're kind of getting a kick out of what women wore in factories in the 1950s," he says. "They were in skirts and blouses with an apron over them."There are other lessons, too, and Fontanetta hopes they have a much longer-term impact on his students."This is a challenge for everyone considering how many people in the show have never been in a musical or theatrical performance before," he says. "I hope they see how much work it takes and how much commitment you need. I hope they have a newfound respect for how much work it takes behind the scenes and how much it takes to put on a show." He hopes this weekend's audiences appreciate that as well, but ultimately he has a much simpler goal for all those folks in the auditorium's spiffy new seats."I hope they have a good time," he says.True16881844Melissa Norman is one of the featured dancers in Metea Valley's production of "The Pajama Game." The show is set in the midst of a 1950s labor dispute at the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory.Paul Michna | Staff PhotographerTrue <p class="factboxheadblack">"The Pajama Game"</p><p class="News"><b>When:</b> 7 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, April 29-May 1</p><p class="News"><b>Where:</b> Metea Valley High School auditorium, 1801 N. Eola Road, Aurora</p><p class="News"><b>Tickets:</b> $7 for adults, $5 for students and seniors</p><p class="News"><b>Info:</b> Reservations at (630) 375-5900, ext. 8220; visit <a href="http://www.mvhs.ipsd.org" target="new">www.mvhs.ipsd.org</a> </p>