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To paraphrase Mrs Prentice Simpson "you are just about the freshest man I ever met" - this seems to accurately sum up Joey Evans, the not quite likeable but entirely credible wannabe nightclub host. Pal Joey was Rodgers and Hart's last collaboration. Although there was a Broadway revival in 2008-2009 it doesn't seem to have been overused in recent years. The directors had, therefore, arguably, something of an open brief. What they delivered was a warm and highly enjoyable show which had the audience at times clapping along and cheering.
 It's 1950s Chicago and from the moment we took our seats in the warmly lit cabaret style venue we were transported back in time - with a live band of an impressive number of eight musicians - a core of whom are on stage throughout, under the tidy direction of MD Adam Pennington. We meet the ever-confident Joey (Alex Dehn) as he attempts to persuade Mike, played, with just enough gangsteresque louchness by Alan Maddrell, to take him on as a host. Quickly we learn that Joey is a character on the make, he's a liar and a dreadful womaniser. What stories he can't make up are not worth hearing. His first potential conquest is the pretty and prim Linda, in a carefully nuanced performance by Sophie Platts- Martin, resulting in a lovely well balanced duet, with Dehn, of 'I could write a book'.
 The show picks up pace with some great nightclub action with excellent choreography by Angus Jacobs and showgirl routines, not least from Maeve Curry, playing Gladys Bumps. A special mention to the costume design (by Linda Twidale) and the fantastic showgirl costumes (by Jackie Robinson) which must be stars of the show.
Joey blunders on in his quest for something, perhaps money, perhaps success, perhaps amusement – he is a somewhat vacuous character – by falling into an affair with the bored, rich Vera, confidently played by Victoria Flint.
 A highlight of the show has to be the rendition of 'The Flower Garden of my Heart' by MD Adam Pennington and the chorus which added just enough humour and pastiche without lending itself to pantomime.
There were excellent performances by Jack Hanrahan as the rather sleazy yet childlike Ludlow Lowell and Rachel Berg as the bored but not boring reporter Melba Snyder.
 The show could have been a representation of the politics of its time yet somehow managed to maintain a modern edge. The women have surprising power. We don't feel too strongly affected by the characters, but we have a jolly good night out.
Photography by Robert Piwko
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