Pal Joey NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (75)
See it if you love classic musical theater shows. This has been re-imagined & updated Brilliantly with exceptional performances. A MUST SEE!!!
Don't see it if you're not into modernizing old shows. Still see it because the talent is out of this world. I hope it transfers to Broadway it's that good!
See it if You want to enjoy amazing choreography, as well as staging highlighting an excellent cast.
Don't see it if You only want short shows, or are not open to updated musicals
See it if You love tap and Savion Glover! Wonderful songs and staging too.
Don't see it if You don’t enjoy dance!
See it if you want to see a rarely revived show full of classic songs and some amazing acting and dancing
Don't see it if you want to see a show that stays true to the original and are not a fan of tap dancing and/or strong female characters
See it if you're willing to accept a different take on a classic Bwy show, with great voices, terrific tap dancing and a jazzy take on familiar songs.
Don't see it if you expect Pal Joey. This is a reworked storyline, with a bad book, orchestration that makes some songs barely recognizable & added material
See it if If you want to see extremely talented singers and hear wonderful songs. I would buy the soundtrack. Super talented actors/singers.
Don't see it if You want a really tight, layered plot.
See it if you want to see a classic musical updated with new arrangements & bolstered with additional standards that fit well in a terrific production
Don't see it if you prefer plays, dramas, or traditional music arrangements, or don’t like role changing from White to Black, creating new racial storylines Read more
See it if you are a fan of Encores! (I am) and enjoy great singing and dancing.
Don't see it if you don't like long musicals
Critic Reviews (7)
“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.”
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“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.”
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“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. ”
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"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. "
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“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.”
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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.
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"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”"
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