page: 1 2 3 4   May 13, 1954 St. James Theatre George Abbott and Jerome Robbins Bob Fosse Richard Adler and Jerry Ross The story of "The Pajama Game," based on Richard Bissell's best-selling novel 71/2 CENTS, is built on a seemingly impossible romance between a factory foreman and the head of the Grievance Committee of the worker's union at the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory. The play about the battle over a 71/2 cent raise marked Fosse's debut as a Broadway choreographer, and one of its brightest moments was nearly snuffed out. A song-and-dance number called "Steam Heat," which premiered many of Fosse's choreographic trademarks, was so hot that co-director George Abbott wanted to cut it. "Hernando's Hideaway."