Time to revive "Pal Joey"?

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Time to revive "Pal Joey"?

Posted: 5/9/05 at 1:22am

Again...another Stritch reference. But, since I saw Elaine Stritch sing "Zip" in AT LIBERTY, I've been listening to it's Cast Recording and I'm wondering if it's time for a "Pal Joey" revival.

The last revival of this show was in 1976 and it seems that it's been on the shelf long enough. Next year it will be 30 years since it was last revived. I know that it's hard to sell a revival of a classic on Broadway today...but, with the right cast, I think it could work.

Any one else agree with this?

"I love talking about nothing. It is the only thing I know anything about." - Oscar Wilde

Updated On: 5/9/05 at 01:22 AM

re: Time to revive 'Pal Joey'?

Posted: 5/9/05 at 1:53am

I ALSO think PAL JOEY is a SPLENDID Musical--Indeed, one of my favorites.

But for JOEY to work--it needs TOP-NOTCH Casting for both 'Vera' and 'Joey'.

Perhaps if someone along the lines of Glenn Close or Meryl Streep for 'Vera', and for 'Joey' [Part does not REALLY require a trained voice], and well, my mind escapes me at the minute of a male dancer with the looks, "charm" and has the right "dancing stuff" to carry off the part.

Thoughts on this, anyone?

"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."

re: Time to revive 'Pal Joey'?

Posted: 5/9/05 at 2:01am

Don't know his name. But he played Tulsa in the BP revival of Gypsy. Maybe too young for Joey, though.

"I know now that theatre saved my life." - Susan Stroman

re: Time to revive 'Pal Joey'?

Posted: 5/9/05 at 2:06am

According to the IBDB, that would have been David Burtka.

As for being "too young" for 'Joey'--I think the role usualy calls for someone in his late twenties/early thirties--old enough "to have been around" but still "young enough" to charm somebody like 'Vera'.

"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."

re: Time to revive 'Pal Joey'?

Posted: 5/9/05 at 2:37am

30 years is good. don't forget though there was the encores! production with Pitti LuPone. It's my favorite PAL JOEY recording. I could easily see a revival a la CHICAGO with just some tables and chairs and some neon signs for the clubs... it'd be sexy as hell. I'd say Patti and Peter Gallagher should reprise their roles from encores!.... and Lonny Price should direct.

Updated On: 5/9/05 at 02:37 AM

re: Time to revive 'Pal Joey'?

Posted: 5/9/05 at 3:35am

I thought Terence McNally had been working on a new book for years. He announced it as a vehicle for David Campbell (who doesn't dance)...

re: Time to revive 'Pal Joey'?

Posted: 5/9/05 at 8:05am

Thank you all for your Monday-morning wishes to revive me. It was a rough weekend. But nothing a double espresso won't revive.

I agree that Patti would be a dream. Seeing her as Vera as her first major NY appearance after she got fired from Sunset Boulevard was one of those theatrical comebacks you only see once in a generation.

I think the perfect Joey would be Michael Beresse. What do you think, Catsy?

re: Time to revive 'Pal Joey'?

Posted: 5/9/05 at 8:41am

Oh God yes

re: Time to revive 'Pal Joey'?

Posted: 5/9/05 at 9:10am

Just curious - why one would need a NEW book?
I don't think the old one was so bad, or even that dated.

#10

re: Time to revive 'Pal Joey'?

Posted: 5/9/05 at 9:11am

Definitely would love to see either Meryl Streep, Glenn CLose or Patti LuPone do Vera (best I've ever seen was Sian Phillips in London) - and for Joey how could you do better than Harry Connick Jr.?

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#11

re: Time to revive 'Pal Joey'?

Posted: 5/9/05 at 9:24am

There was already a rewrite by Mark Bramble when Lena Horne and Clifton Davis did the show in L.A. as PAL JOEY '78. New songs were added, and the one scene role of Melba (Stritch's part) was expanded for Josephine Premice to be Vera's best friend.

#12

re: Time to revive 'Pal Joey'?

Posted: 5/9/05 at 9:42am

I saw a fairly good production of Pal Joey last summer at the Shaw Festival. About as good as one can get using the original book.

The book is the problem, specifically the first half of the second act which just lays there like a bad date. Also why wait to introduce some of the villains (of a sort) until the second act?

I saw the legendary failure production in 1976 where the leading man (Edward Villella replaced by Chris Chadman) quit after the first preview and the leading lady (Eleanor Parker replaced by Joan Copeland) after the fourth. Chadman and Copeland were the understudies. The reviews were lethal and Circle in the Square ended up papering like mad.

But, oh, that score.

[Trivia time: veteran actress Joan Copeland is Arthur Miller's sister.]

"If my life weren't funny, it would just be true. And that would be unacceptable." --Carrie Fisher

#13

re: Time to revive 'Pal Joey'?

Posted: 5/9/05 at 9:45am

And Dave Hodo, the construction worker from The Village People, was a dancer in that production.

#14

re: Time to revive 'Pal Joey'?

Posted: 5/9/05 at 9:46am

I love Pal Joey.

Forget a new book and definately forget interpolating any songs into it. Do it for real or don't do it at all.

I'm sick of this "revisal" crap.

#15

Christine Andreas as Vera

Posted: 5/9/05 at 9:51am

Christine Andreas won raves in Philadelphia's "Pal Joey" (and a Barrymore award) when she starred as Vera last year. If you've ever heard her sing "Bewitched..." you'll likely agree she'd be a fantastic choice.

#16

Christine Andreas as Vera

Posted: 5/9/05 at 10:01am

I've worn out two of her ON YOUR TOES albums...

#17

Christine Andreas as Vera

Posted: 5/9/05 at 11:17am

Well...if Joey needs to be in his late twenties/early thirties, then David Burtka would work. He is 28, although he doesn't look near that age. When I saw him in GYPSY I couldn't believe how young he looked on stage...so he might not pass for the right age.

"I love talking about nothing. It is the only thing I know anything about." - Oscar Wilde

#18

Christine Andreas as Vera

Posted: 5/9/05 at 11:20am

A while back Riedel floated the idea of Hugh Jackman for Joey. I don't know if he can dance it, but he's definitely the name to choose if you want to get the thing produced.

#19

Jackman/Andreas

Posted: 5/9/05 at 11:24am

The only thing with Jackman is, wouldn't the whole show revolve around him? This may sound crazy, but what about Adam Pascal?

Wildcat...I love On Your Toes too...Christine's solo work is really fantastic and I'd love to see her back on Broadway in a role like Vera or Mame. Everything is so celebrity driven these days, that I wonder if they'd cast her in a role of that size. She's way under utilized on Broadway in my opinion.

#20

Jackman/Andreas

Posted: 5/9/05 at 11:34am

I actually just saw the show at my college (which I just graduated!). It has some nice songs, but it really is SO dated, and the plot really is rather pointless (kind of boring too). I don't think a revival would be very well received, unless they got some big star to do it (I agree that Hugh Jackman would be an excellent choice).

Updated On: 5/9/05 at 11:34 AM

#21

Jackman/Andreas

Posted: 5/9/05 at 11:50am

Joey is a bit like Sally in CABARET. If the actor playing him is too obviously talented and charismatic, would you really buy the idea that he can only work in dives and has to leech off rich dames to get ahead? Also, the role was written for a dancer so ideally it should be cast with a dancer, and preferably one of smaller stature...

"Still, this half-pint imitation..."

#22

Jackman/Andreas

Posted: 5/9/05 at 12:13pm

This is funny... I just borrowed the Elaine Stritch at Liberty CD, and while listening to it last night was wondering when we were going to get a revival of Pal Joey...

Celebrate Life

Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted. - Randy Pausch

#23

Jackman/Andreas

Posted: 2/3/07 at 5:19pm

One of the 'Jersey Boys' will be playing the role of Joey Evans.

#24

Jackman/Andreas

Posted: 2/3/07 at 5:32pm

Pal Joey in Pal Joey?

Think about it

Poster Emeritus

#25

Jackman/Andreas

Posted: 2/3/07 at 6:49pm

I remember Ken Mandelbaum mentioned a reading that took place starring Donna Murphy (who has played Vera in Boston) and I believe John Stamos though that doesn't sound right, can't really remember now. The Weisslers were behind the reading and were supposed to bring the show to Broadway. Don't know what happened with that reading though.
Last year there was a lot of talk about a Matthew Bourne-directed revival starring Hugh Jackman. Either way I'd love to see Murphy as Vera.

"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"

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