Pal Joey - Rizzo's all grown up and still a slut!

Going in, I didn’t know the show very well except for the brilliant, but mega overdone (usually badly) classic, “Bewitched”. Talk about your depressing endings (minor spoilers ahead). I mean, nothing works out for any of the characters except maybe the nightclub owner and Gladys. But even they have to resort to extortion to make their “dreams come true.” Every character is seedy and deceitful except for the ingénue, and she basically gets screwed at the end as well.

So uplifting and feel-good, Pal Joey is not. Which isn’t to say there aren’t any laughs or fun musical numbers, it IS a musical comedy after all. Actually, I think the audience’s mixed response to the show stems from mistaken expectation. I mean, you hear the words “Rodgers & Hart” and “musical” together and automatically you think of zany Broadway a la Guys and Dolls. Wrong. I mean, there are some wildly funny characterizations, especially from the ensemble of nightclub dancers - the cigarette-smoking butch chorus girl is a hoot. And both Stockard Channing and Martha Plimpton will probably get Tony nommed for their work, but there was definitely something missing.

That missing "something" might be attributed to leading man Matthew Risch, who inherited the role from Tony winner Christian Hoff after Hoff suspiciously withdraw from the project a week into previews because of a foot injury. Darkly handsome, Risch sounded like a young Frank Sinatra and danced with finesse and ease, but lacked a certain “star” charisma that couldn’t match Channing or Plimpton. Maybe he’s just too young and lacking in life experience to really inhabit the role of a womanizing user.

Channing, however, is the real deal. Rizzo’s all grown-up and looks pretty damn hot as the rich society matron who keeps Joey as her sex pet. Her Vera is sexy, funny, vulnerable but self-assured all at the same time. Though obviously not a singer, her incredible phrasing and interpretation make you forget her vocal shortcomings. My only complaint - fix her dance! She was a hot mess in the first act ballet, making even Risch, a spectacular dancer, look clumsy and uncomfortable. It probably doesn’t help that her skin tight gown (which she and her boobs look spectacular in) doesn’t allow her legs to separate more than about a 18 inches.

Plimpton, too is a surprise, having only scene her in straight plays. I had no idea she had that crazy low belt. And she, too, looks great in skimpy costume and garters.