Today is Sunday, and this week’s Report features a preview of my upcoming reviews of Chez Joey, Complications in Sue, and Little Miss Perfect; and “An Omission.” Plus, a quote of the week; select press announcements from the past week; and a list of the upcoming week’s previews and openings.

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

A letter, written in 1940, from John O’Hara to Richard Rodgers, that set into motion the creation of the musical Pal Joey.

Dear Dick:

I don’t know whether you happened to see any of a series of pieces I’ve been doing for The New Yorker in the past year or so. They’re about a guy who is a master of ceremonies in cheap night clubs, and the pieces are in the form of letters from him to a successful band leader. Anyway I got the idea that the pieces, or at least the character and the life in general, could be made into a show, and I wonder if you and Larry would be interested in working on it with me. I read that you two have a commitment with Dwight Wiman for a show this spring, but if and when you get through with that I do hope you like my idea.

Faithfully,
John

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REVIEWS

• Chez Joey is currently playing a pre-Broadway engagement at Arena Stage in Washington, DC. It is a new musical based on the 1940 musical Pal Joey, inspired by a series of fictitious letters penned by John O’Hara. An earlier iteration of the piece was seen, not by me, at New York City Center in 2023, under the original title. Chez Joey has a book by Richard LaGravenese, lyrics by Lorenz Hart, music by Richard Rodgers, and direction by Savion Glover and Tony Goldwyn, and it is a happy surprise, with the potential to be a great piece of theatre, pending a combination of refinements and revisions. Plus, three of the five principals are sensational. And I should like to note, for any musical-theatre purists dead set on seeing a revival of Pal Joey, which Chez Joey is not, Hart and Rodgers themselves had a history of creating new musicals based on existing musicals, for such is the case with their 1926 musical Peggy-Ann – which is based on the 1910 musical Tillie’s Nightmare, and which is represented in Chez Joey with “Where’s That Rainbow?” My review of Chez Joey will be published next Sunday, with a detailed punch list that the creative team might consider moving forward.

• Complications in Sue, a new opera in one act, premiered earlier this month at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia under the auspices of Opera Philadelphia. It has a libretto by Michael R. Jackson, based on an idea by Justin Vivian Bond, and each of its ten scenes features music from a different composer: Andy Akiho, Alistair Coleman, Nathalie Joachim, Missy Mazzoli, Nico Muhly, Rene Orth, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Kamala Sankaram, Dan Schlosberg, and Errollyn Wallen. Perhaps, from a standpoint of opera, it is adequate, effective, or even enjoyable – my operatic frame of reference is too narrow to make such an assessment – but, from a standpoint of theatre, of drama, of storytelling, of social satire and social comment, it is half-baked and occasionally slapdash, despite an exciting conglomeration of conceits. (I took in the piece because of the backgrounds of three of its creators: Bond, Jackson, and co-director Raja Feather Kelly.) My abbreviated review will be published next Sunday.

• Little Miss Perfect, a new musical inspired by a song of the same name, is currently playing a world premiere engagement at Olney Theatre Center outside Washington, DC. It has a book, lyrics, and music by Joriah Kwamé and direction by Zhailon Levingston, and it is an exceedingly rough, strangely bland affair. Leanne J. Antonio is nonetheless giving a strong central performance. My review will be published next Sunday.

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AN OMISSION

On February 1, I recognized 30 musicals, nine book writers, and 18 songwriters who have taken up permanent residence in my heart, and who continue to fuel my love of the musical stage, and I recognized 28 authors and shows that continue to inspire. Then, on February 8, I recognized 20 additional authors of whom I am especially fond, noting that the list is likely a little longer. Today, I must pay homage to a significant, inadvertent omission: Johnny Burke, the wonderfully poetic, cosmically inclined lyricist behind “I’ve Got a Pocketful of Dreams,” “Moonlight Becomes You,” “Pennies from Heaven,” and a storm of other nontheatrical pop songs, most of which were written with either Jimmie V. Monaco or Jimmy Van Heusen, and several of which were popularized by Bing Crosby.

Burke was a fine, classy craftsman with a special knack for crafting active, playful lines and indirect love songs. But he had little feeling for the musical stage – which was, at the time, maturing – and his output is emblematic of the music industry migration of the 1930s, when the popular song became firmly entrenched in film, radio, and recording – an entirely different world, based, for all intents and purposes, on the opposite coast than the musical stage, and harboring different requirements than and natural incongruities with the same. Some songwriters, in the middle of the 20th century, were able to successfully transition, literally and figuratively, from West to East, or to straddle both worlds, but Burke was not one of them. His unsatisfactory stage musicals, built with filmland sensibilities, include Carnival in Flanders (1953), Donnybrook! (1961), and Nellie Bly (1946). An earlier project, Moon in E Flat, went unproduced.

Still, many or most of his pop songs are deliriously fine. They include “Don’t Let That Moon Get Away,” “His Rocking Horse Ran Away,” “Imagination,” “It’s Always You,” “Personality,” “Sunday, Monday, or Always,” “There’s Always the Blues,” and “You’re Dangerous.”

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PRESS ANNOUNCEMENTS

Here is a list of select press announcements from the past week. Each headline is clickable for more information.

• Full Cast Set for Beaches on Broadway Starring Jessica Vosk and Kelli Barrett
• Matthew Morrison to Play Bobby Darin in Just in Time on Broadway
• Broadway Titaníque Adds Melissa Barrera, John Riddle, Layton Williams to Cast
• Drew Bastian, Jonathan Judge-Russo and More to Star in Music City Off-Broadway
• Corbin Bleu to Join The Great Gatsby on Broadway
• Manhattan Concert Productions Will Present Prince of Egypt in 2027
• Keen Company Unveils Full Lineup for Mixtape: Volume 2, Curated By Adam Gwon
• The Office! A Musical Parody Will Close Off-Broadway in March

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PREVIEWS AND OPENINGS

Here is a list of the new musicals and revivals either opening or beginning previews during the upcoming week, specifically on Broadway and Off-Broadway. It contains, as well, select new musicals beginning performances regionally, and select new musicals and revivals beginning performances in New York City. Each title is clickable for more information.

Monday, February 23

Tuesday, February 24

Wednesday, February 25
• Regional: Glory Ride
• Previews: My Joy is Heavy

Thursday, February 26

Friday, February 27
• Previews: About Time

Saturday, February 28

Sunday, March 1
• Opening: Bigfoot!
• Opening: Night Side Songs

Photo of a scene from Chez Joey by Matthew Murphy.