 "; "Pal Joey" would be his first lead role.Rodgers and Hart wanted Vivienne Segal, who had previously starred in their 1938 musical "I Married an Angel", to play the older woman with whom Joey has an affair; though O'Hara had initially considered other actresses, he was won over when he met Segal.Segal, who would be 43 when the show opened on Broadway, appreciated the opportunity to play a worldly, mature character, unlike the ingenues she had played for most of her career.