Lena Horne and Clifton Davis starred in what was called Pal Joey '78. The much-troubled production played in Los Angeles and San Francisco to negative reviews. Link to more info. [EDIT: ovrtur seems to have gone down for a bit but I imagine the link will be working again in a while.]
You are probably right about this new version having been announced as being in the works a few years ago. There have been so many reworkings of Pal Joey that it's hard for me to remember them all.
The original book (or at least the 1952 book) has good stuff and, IMO, not-so-good stuff. But it doesn't have much plot, it just sort of meanders around.
