“Race was the wrong problem to solve in ‘Pal Joey.’ What really never worked, and still does not, is the way the songs hang with the story.”
Read more

“No, this ‘Pal Joey’ is not ready for primetime. It’s close, but on one of the biggest stages in New York City, close isn’t good enough. I’m impressed by the experiment, but considering that development of this production dates back to at least 2016, it’s a particularly disappointing piece of theater.”
Read more

“The creative team gets props and a huge round of applause for having the courage of their convictions. Honestly, with some rejiggering, this version of ’Pal Joey’, which is almost too big to contain on the City Center stage, could find success on Broadway. For all its flaws, this is a thrilling venture. ”
Read more

"The story line remains more or less on track so far. It’s in bumping a hitherto peripheral character – the nondescript, nonsinging, nondancing club manager – to the fore that the rewriters simultaneously triumph and overstep. "
Read more

“What this show needs more than any strong visual is a strong vision, and one can’t help but feel that this ‘revisal’ is what happens when you have two writers and two directors on one project. In every way, this ‘Pal Joey’ proves that ‘more’ is sometimes a bad four-letter word.”
Read more

I’m certainly glad I attended. But it wasn’t “Pal Joey.” Of the 22 Rodgers and Hart songs at the performance I attended…only six were in the original 1940 Broadway production of “Pal Joey.” The Encores! production didn’t use the seven other songs in the original score, and added promiscuously from the Rodgers and Hart songbook… The shoehorning in of all these songs turns the musical into a musical revue.
Read more

"As rewritten musicals go, the mess that Aaron Sorkin made out of last season’s “Camelot” looks downright inspired compared to the misbegotten “Pal Joey”"
Read more