Review - Honeymoon in Vegas

I have no idea why it has taken me so long to get to the new musical Honeymoon in Vegas.  I remember seeing the movie and finding it enjoyable enough and I'm a huge fan of Jason Robert Brown.  I guess it took awhile for my schedule and TDF discounts to match up.  But I finally caught up with the show last night.

I was initally a tad annoyed to be sitting in the mezzanine (I'm so spoiled), but I actually think it's a better place to sit to see all the silly wackiness unfold.  The show is quite well directed and choreographed and the mezz was the perfect spot to check it all out.  I had a great time at Honeymoon in Vegas - it's a fun, silly, old-fashioned musical comedy that wants nothing more than to entertain.  And entertain it does.  I'll just mention that my seat neighbors, tourists from Austria who wanted to see The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time but were priced out, had more fun than two people should.  They were just so genuinely tickled throughout the show that they raised my level of enjoyment, too.  And I was already having a really fun time.  :)

Following the movie plot, Honeymoon in Vegas tells the story of Jack and Betsy, a couple who have been dating for over five years.  Betsy is ready for a ring and commitment, but Jack is still haunted by the spectre of his dead mother who demanded a promise on her deathbed (Nancy Opel is an absolute riot as the late mom, who keeps popping up throughout the show to remind Jack of his promise; even though I knew that she'd be turning up now and again, the way it was done was a surprise each time).  Jack decides to throw caution to the wind and takes Betsy to Vegas to get married.  When they're checking in, card shark Tommy Korman sees Betsy, who looks exactly like Tommy's late wife, and decides he has to have her.  Wacky hijinks ensue.  (I just like saying wacky hijinks ensue.  I need to learn a new catchphrase.)

photo credit: Sara Krulwich

Tony Danza, of tv fame, plays Tommy Korman and he has charm to spare.  You all know how I love me some charm.  I've been crushing on Danza since Taxi aired oh too many years ago and he still has all of that appeal.  In spades.  He makes a very appealing third option in this love triangle and even though he tries some underhanded dealing to get Betsy to marry him, he's still a powerful rival that you can see her ending up with.  Plus, the audience just adores him AND you can tell he's having the time of his life on that stage.  All that adds up to fun.  All of the performers were great, though.  They were all good singers, dancers and actors, who made you care about these characters' situations.  Everyone seems to be on the same page, walking a fine line between being silly/goofy and having fun versus overplaying and being a little too much.

photo credit: Sara Krulwich

The best part of the show is definitely Jason Robert Brown's score.  The songs are all so tuneful and interesting, and his lyrics are just first-rate.  I often enjoyed the song lyrics much more than the libretto - the songs were wonderful character pieces that had to be well-acted to land.  The ballads were touching and the comic songs were terrifically funny; I really marvel at what a chameleon Brown is.  I love all of his scores and no two sound alike.  Oh, and hello, he wrote a number for skydiving Elvis impersonators.  Riotous.  I can't resist an Elvis impersonator, lol.  I'm still humming 'jump jump jumpity jump' and I immediately downloaded the cast album this morning.

Just a couple of quibbles - I'm honestly a tiny bit puzzled as to why they set the show in the current day; the music swings like 50s/60s tunes and some of the decidedly sexist notions seemed more a part of the past (I know a few people who were offended by the sexism, for some reason it didn't really bother me, maybe because the show is just so silly, you can't take any of it seriously).  I'm of two minds about Tony Danza's ballad about his wife's skin cancer, I appreciated the sheer nerve of it, but also found it distastetful (same for the song "Friki-Friki" in the second act).  I also wish the bookwriter had fleshed out Betsy's character a little more, but these are quibbles.  On the whole, the show is goofy fun.  I enjoyed myself a great deal and I hope the show can find its audience.  I would love to take my mom when she comes to visit this summer, but for some reason, the show isn't selling.  The mezzanine was sadly pretty empty last night (except for my row, which was weird, but ok).  Everyone in the audience last night seemed to be having a great time, and most of the audience stayed to listen to the band play us out, so the music is hitting.  I don't know what the answer is to getting butts in the seats.  As I often say, if I could figure that out, I'd be the richest girl in NYC.  Maybe someday it will come to me in a dream (last night's dream involved the Beekman Boys and the Harvard Club, so random ideas are definitely in my subconscious wheelhouse) - I'll keep you posted on that...