Loretta Devine will step in for her old Dreamgirls co-star Jennifer Holliday in the upcoming New York City Center gala presentation of Pal Joey starring Ephraim Sykes.
Holliday had been previously announced for the role of nightclub owner Lucille Wallace but bowed out due to scheduling conflicts. The production runs Nov. 1-5 at City Center, starting with a benefit performance to be followed by a gala dinner at the Ziegfeld Ballroom.
Both Devine and Holliday became Broadway stars for their performances in the original production of Dreamgirls in 1981, with Devine playing Lorrell Robinson and Holliday playing Effie Melody White.
The starry gala presentation of Pal Joey will be co-directed by Savion Glover and Tony Goldwyn, with Glover choreographing. The musical is being reconceived, with the character of Joey Evans (Sykes, of Ain’t Too Proud) portraying the character as a Black jazz singer who refuses to compromise on his craft as he struggles to make it big on the Chicago nightclub circuit.
Joining the production is the newly announced Jeb Brown (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical) who will play gangster Tony.
With a new book by Richard LaGravenese and Daniel “Koa” Beaty, the production also reimagines the character Linda English (Aisha Jackson) as a radio chanteuse trying to find her authentic voice, and Vera Simpson (Elizabeth Stanley) as a liberated white socialite following her passions. Also in the cast is Brooks Ashmanskas.
The musical’s classics like “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” and “I Could Write a Book” are joined by other Richard Rodgers-Lorenz Hart classics including “My Heart Stood Still” and “The Lady is a Tramp.”
Funds raised by all seven performances will go toward City Center’s founding mission “to provide all New Yorkers affordable access to world-class performing arts.”