Pal Joey premiered on Broadway in 1940 and has had five New York City revivals since then. This storied show, despite killer songs by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, has a little bit of a problem. Joey! He’s an ambitious night-club performer who’s equal parts charmer and hustler, and audiences don’t love the hustler part. The first Joey was Gene Kelly, who could put anything over—that smile, those moves, his genial croon. But if the guy playing Joey isn’t bewitching and beguiling, no go. Now City Center brings us a Pal Joey reconceived by Richard LaGravenese and Daniel “Koa” Beaty. Joey’s not a hustler but a Black jazz singer who refuses to compromise his sound. Savion Glover co-directs with Tony Goldwyn and also choreographs. And the casting of Joey? It’s Ephraim Sykes, lately of Ain’t Too Proud. He’d be just the ticket in any production of the musical. —Laura Jacobs