The glitz of Sin City meets the razzle-dazzle of Broadway in HONEYMOON IN VEGAS, the new musical that Ben Brantley of The New York Times calls "A classic, with a revelation of a score," cheering "You know you're listening to the sound of success."
Honeymoon in Vegas tells the story of Jack Singer, a regular guy with an extreme fear of marriage. When his girlfriend Betsy puts the pressure on, Jack finally pops the question and they head to Sin City for a whirlwind wedding weekend. But when Vegas wise guy Tommy Korman catches a glimpse of the stunning bride-to-be, and notices her uncanny resemblance to his late wife, he does everything possible to break up the romance and get his own second chance at love.
Stage and screen star Tony Danza ("Who's the Boss?," "Taxi"), Tony nominee Rob McClure (Chaplin), and Brynn O'Malley (Annie) star in this uproarious Broadway premiere with a book by Andrew Bergman (screenwriter of the hit film Honeymoon in Vegas), music by Tony winner Jason Robert Brown (The Bridges of Madison County, Parade), direction by Gary Griffin (The Color Purple), and choreography by Denis Jones (Legally Blonde). Bet the house on this insanely funny new musical full of skydiving Elvises, sexy chorus girls, red-hot romance... and really cold feet.
There's plenty to like about the new Broadway arrival 'Honeymoon in Vegas.' That goes double for the terrific score...If only the overall production were sexier, funnier and more surprising. As is, the show, directed by Gary Griffin ('The Color Purple') is cute and old-fashioned, a good time...Jason Robert Brown...deserves huzzahs for making the kicky musical cocktail of catchy melodies and clever lyrics that drive this show. The songs smartly change tempo and tone, shifting from classic showtunes to jazzy stylings to island breeziness as the action moves from New York to Nevada to Hawaii...Griffin's production speeds along efficiently...But the director trips up occasionally on nonessential material...The three leads lend charm and appeal. O'Malley is plucky and makes her 'Anywhere But Here,' a musical ultimatum, stand out...McClure ('Chaplin') gets the show off on a winning note with the tuneful 'I Love Betsy,' and goes full-throttle from then on out. Danza is a charmer with his Sinatra-like singing and tap-happy moments. He'll never convince as a bad guy, but Danza's the boss of good fun.
So Honeymoon in Vegas turns out to depend on the one element that wasn't part of the original property: the score. (The movie's soundtrack is mostly covers of Elvis hits.) Brown was the perfect choice for the job, one of the vanishingly small breed of post-Sondheim theater composers who are more than just post-Sondheims. Like the master, he's a musical dramatist, but his song models are poppier and here sound great in arrangements and orchestrations (by several hands, including his own) that recall both mid-century MGM and Nelson Riddle's Capitol years. But the gift of superb pastiche cuts two ways, and the reason Brown has not had a financial hit in all of his worthy Broadway at-bats (Parade, 13, The Bridges of Madison County) may be related to the reason his score for Vegas can't completely rescue the icky raw material. We are still awaiting the fullest expression of his own voice, not the one he must force through other people's stories.
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