The joy of musical standards lies in reinterpretation. In the case of “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered,” the centerpiece of the Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart musical Pal Joey based on John O’Hara’s 1940 novel of the same name, there are plenty to choose from: Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Linda Ronstadt, Sammy Davis Jr., and even a duet version with Rod Stewart and Cher. But in Chez Joey, a new musical inspired by Pal Joey playing through March 15 at Arena Stage, book writer Richard LaGravanese and choreographer and “orchestrologist” Savion Glover (co-directing with Scandal star Tony Goldwyn) are taking reinterpretation to the next level by crafting a new story and set list from the old musical using songs from across the Rodgers and Hart catalog. The resulting play lives up to Pal Joey’s primary anthem, and is mostly bewitching, at times bothersome, and occasionally bewildering.

In his lyrical retrospective, Finishing the Hat, legendary composer Stephen Sondheim set out his three rules of writing: less is more; God is in the details; and content dictates form. That’s not to say these are the only or definitive rules, of course, as evidenced by Joriah Kwamé’s Little Miss Perfect—a world premiere musical playing at Olney Theatre Center through March 8—which flips the last rule to construct a whole musical from a single YouTube viral hit. But whereas other social media musicals like Ratatouille: The Musical and The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical have found their stride sticking mostly to the platforms that bore them, translating “Little Miss Perfect” to Little Miss Perfect has proven a more difficult task, at times falling victim to its own desire for virality. 

You should know that I am not the target audience for Paranormal Activity, a stage adaptation of the Paramount Pictures movie franchise running at Shakespeare Theatre Company through February 7. I am a wimp, a wuss, a weenie, with a time-tested talent for weaseling out of movie nights with even a whiff of public fright. But more so, I am a sucker for spectacle, and this Paranormal Activity — which leans heavily on illusion and ambient creepiness instead of the “found-footage” format of its film iterations — is a horror hoot.