Lamont Brown, Crystal J Freeman and more join previously announced Samantha Massell, Kevin Cahoon and more.
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater has revealed the full cast and creative team for Chez Joey. Unifying artists whose work has defined genres, broken boundaries (and records), and claimed some of the industry’s highest honors, this reimagining of the timeless musical inspired by John O’Hara’s ‘Pal Joey’ stories for The New Yorker, is hotter than ever. With fresh arrangements of the legendary catalog of Great American Songbook duo Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, a new book by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Richard LaGravenese (The Fisher King), choreography by Tony winner Savion Glover (Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk), and co-direction by actor, director, and producer Tony Goldwyn (ABC’s Scandal) and Glover, Chez Joey will set fire to Arena’s Kreeger Theater from January 30 – March 15, 2026.
Setting the onstage tempo, the Chez Joey ensemble will include Lamont Brown (Broadway’s Funny Girl), Crystal J Freeman (ArtCentric’s Dreamgirls), Charis Michelle Gullage (Summer: The Donna Summer Musical National Tour), Ndaya Dream Hoskins (Broadway’s SMASH), Marcus John (Hamilton North American Tour), Josh Johnson (ABC’s Dancing with the Stars), Addi Loving (The Muny’s Seven Brides for Seven Brothers), Kalen Robinson (Signature Theatre’s Play On!), Brooke Taylor (Broadway’s Moulin Rouge! The Musical), and Alana S. Thomas (Imagination Stage’s The Hula-Hoopin' Queen), as well as Justin Michael Duval (Girl from the North Country North American Tour), Jordyn Taylor (Arena’s Damn Yankees), Karen Vincent (Olney Theatre Center’s Hello, Dolly!), and Jailyn Wilkerson (Signature Theatre’s Play On!). Driving the production’s live sound, the onstage band—led by Lafayette Harris Jr. (Broadway’s Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk) on keys—will feature Nolan Nwachukwu on bass, Corey Rawls on drums, Daniel Bereket on trumpet, Jalin Shiver on saxophone, and Alex De Lazzari on clarinet.
They join a marquee lineup led by previously announced Tony Award winner Myles Frost (MJ the Musical) in the namesake role of Joey Evans, Awa Sal Secka (The Public Theater’s Goddess) as Linda English, Samantha Massell (Broadway’s Fiddler on the Roof) as Vera Simpson, Angela Hall (Broadway’s Black and Blue) as Lucille Wallace, and Tony nominee Kevin Cahoon (Shucked) as Melvin Snyder.
The Rodgers and Hart score will receive new energy with music supervision by Grammy-nominated jazz pianist Victor Gould. The celebrated Broadway design team includes two-time Tony Award-winning set designer Derek McLane (Moulin Rouge! The Musical), five-time Tony-nominated Costume Designer Emilio Sosa (Purlie Victorious), lighting designer Adam Honoré (Ragtime), six-time Tony-nominated sound designer Dan Moses Schreier (Floyds Collins), and wigs, hair, and makeup designer J. Jared Janas (Dead Outlaw). Casting is by The TRC Company / Tara Rubin, CSA & Peter Van Dam, CSA and Raiyon Hunter, CSA. The stage manager is Morgan Holbrook and the assistant stage managers are Kelly Merritt and Dayne Sundman.
Set against the heat and hustle of the 1940s Chicago club scene, Chez Joey reexamines the question of sex and love and ambition and cost through a bold contemporary lens. Cue Joey Evans: an irresistible, slick-talking, velvet-voiced nightclub performer with dreams bigger than the bandstand. But in a city where the right connections mean everything, he finds himself caught between Linda, the bright-eyed chorus girl, and Vera, the wealthy baroness who can bankroll his big break—for a price. With no-nonsense club owner Lucille and vaudeville performer-turned-Chicago-social-insider Melvin watching his every move, Joey’s got one choice to make: play it straight or risk it all for a shot at the spotlight.
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