Pal Joey

The mainstage series begins with the classic Rodgers and Hart musical, Pal Joey. It’s based on the book by John O’Hara in which, when a cheap nightclub emcee ditches his naive girlfriend to romance a rich older woman, a blackmail scheme threatens to ruin them all. The original Broadway production of Pal Joey, which debuted in 1940 starring Gene Kelly and Vivienne Segal, ran for 374 performances and introduced popular standards, including “I Could Write a Book” and “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered.” In 1957, it was adapted for film and became a hit movie starring Frank Sinatra and Rita Hayworth.