Pal Joey

Rodgers & HammersteinPal Joey

Pal Joey


Music by Richard Rodgers | Lyrics by Lorenz Hart | Book by John O’Hara

This penultimate Rodgers & Hart collaboration introduced the first anti-hero to propel a musical. One of the first Broadway shows to transition the American musical into a fine art form, Pal Joey was innovative in its honest, dark framing of complex characters from Chicago’s nightlife scene. Arguably ahead its time, Pal Joey featured many beloved standards of the American songbook, and the show’s 1952 revival led to national tours, a West End premiere and a 1957 Columbia Pictures film starring Frank Sinatra. A landmark title in American theater history, Rodgers & Hart’s 1940 hit has been revived and performed in countless subsequent productions, including a 2008 Broadway revival starring Stockard Channing.

PHOTO ARCHIVE

Stills from the 1940 Original Broadway Production
Stills from the 1952 Broadway Production