Pal Joey cancelled at KC so Chris Ashley can do Leap of Faith?

Looks like you're correct . . .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/kennedy-center-cancels-centerpiece-pal-joey/2012/01/06/gIQAkp9CfP_story.html

In the eternal game of musical chairs that goes on in the theater, Ashley has signed on to “Leap of Faith,” the new musical suddenly on Broadway’s agenda, with the apparent faltering of the Harry Connick Jr. revival of “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever.”

“We got a call yesterday morning at 10 that we lost a director,” Kaiser said. “This wasn’t just a revival, it was with a book newly interpolated, and it was a collaboration with Chris. There was no way to resurrect it.” The company, Kaiser said, had feelers out for casting, but nothing was yet firm. A workshop for “Pal Joey” had been held in New York, he added, with four-time Tony winner Audra McDonald and Colin Donnell, currently appearing on Broadway in “Anything Goes.”

Updated On: 1/6/12 at 03:11 PM

Interesting. I'm kind of surprised they'd cancel the entire production because of Ashley's withdrawal. It would seem easier just to replace a director than to scrap an entire production, but what do I know?

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I'm surprised Ashley didn't have a contract (written or oral) to do JOEY which has been on the schedule for a while. LEAP has jumped up rather quickly or CLEAR DAY was slated for disaster early on. Broadway has become such a Crap-shoot (double meaning intended) that a show like LEAP which has been brewing for years all of a sudden is on the fast track? And I know Menken has been writing new songs for NEWSIES to make it TONY Score eligible(and perhaps pit him against himself), he is spreading himself pretty thin.

Oh, and Audra as Vera? Wow!

It may have been in his contract,
if so the KC should have had a backup director in place.

"Why Terrence McNally???" 3 question marks, huh. Were the books to Ragtime, Man of No Importance, and The Full Monty so terrifically terrible? Catch Me if You Can wasn't terrific but I'm not sure he gets the greatest blame there. Who's on the list of your favorite librettists you think would be better?

Updated On: 1/6/12 at 06:25 PM

With all due respect Wayman, you can tell what Menken is thinking by his tweets and their timing.
I had small problems with NEWSIES at Papermill, where it had the new book. love interest etc. but that version would do perfectly well on tour and in high schools, since Menk has yet to win a TONY and NEWSIES needs just a tune or two more to be eligible ans new score is a weak (number-wise) category this year, I think it's safe to say that might be one of his reasons to tweak it up.

Terrence McNally is hit or miss with musical librettos, but I think he can be great (Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Ragtime, Man of No Importance probably being my tops). But does Pal Joey really need a book from him? The original libretto doesn't work? Is that really the common true or just something people have repeated over and over until it's the perceived common wisdom?