Character guide
Sid Sorokin
from The Pajama Game
Sid Sorokin is the new factory superintendent and romantic lead of The Pajama Game, Richard Adler and Jerry Ross's 1954 musical set in a Midwestern pajama factory.
- Show
- The Pajama Game
- Broadway premiere
- 1954
- Role
- Lead
- Music by
- Adler & Ross
Sid Sorokin on stage vs screen
Broadway compared with the 1957 film
John Raitt is both Broadway's and Hollywood's Sid Sorokin: he originated the new superintendent in 1954 and repeated the role in the 1957 film, like most of the original cast. Janis Paige later said that if Frank Sinatra had accepted the film's male lead instead of Raitt, she would have kept her role as Babe.
On screen Sid keeps Hey There and his duets with Babe, Small Talk and There Once Was a Man, but his stage song A New Town Is a Blue Town does not appear among the film's numbers. Harry Connick Jr. played Sid in the 2006 Broadway revival.
Who is Sid Sorokin?
Sid arrives at the Sleep Tite Pajama Factory as its new superintendent, an outsider tasked with keeping order on the shop floor just as workers are pushing for a raise. He quickly falls for Babe Williams, the head of the union grievance committee, putting his growing feelings directly at odds with his management role.
Sid is practical and good natured, caught between the demands of his job and his attraction to a woman leading the very workers he oversees. His arc traces how that personal conflict eventually pushes him toward the workers' side, and toward Babe, by the end of the show.
Sid's role in The Pajama Game
Sid is a lead role built around a strong, warm baritone, most famously showcased in the ballad Hey There, in which he sings to a dictaphone recording of his own voice about his feelings for Babe. The part demands both romantic sincerity and comic timing as Sid navigates factory politics and courtship at the same time.
John Raitt originated the role on Broadway in 1954, and Harry Connick Jr. played Sid in the show's 2006 Broadway revival. Audiences remember Sid for grounding the show's labor comedy with a genuinely tender central romance.
Sid Sorokin: frequently asked questions
What show is Sid Sorokin from?
Sid Sorokin is the male lead of The Pajama Game, which opened on Broadway in 1954.
Is Sid Sorokin a lead or supporting role?
Sid is a lead role, serving as the show's romantic male lead opposite Babe Williams.
Who wrote the music for The Pajama Game?
Richard Adler and Jerry Ross wrote the music and lyrics for The Pajama Game.
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