 Hoff began previews as Joey, but when he was forced to leave the production on November 22, 2008, due to an injury, his understudy, Matthew Risch, took over the part.Risch had previously appeared on Broadway in featured roles in "Chicago" and "Legally Blonde".In 1940 "New York Times" review, Brooks Atkinson wrote

If it is possible to make an entertaining musical comedy out of an odious story, "Pal Joey" is it.