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| Tony Danza, Rob McClure and the Company of Honeymoon in Vegas. Photo: Joan Marcus |
Will Tony Danza’s Honeymoon on Broadway Last?
By Lauren Yarger
It’s got a score by
Jason Robert Brown (The Bridges of
Madison County; The Last five Years), a great cast (including Tony Danza,
star of TV’s “Who’s the Boss”) and is
based on a popular movie of the same title, so why is Broadway’s Honeymoon in Vegas struggling to win a
following?
The show received
rave reviews in its pretrial run at Papermill Playhouse in New Jersey, and buzz
in the industry circles then had the show -- and Danza -- walking off with Tony Awards in
2015. The move to Broadway, however, had producers wringing their hands as box
office numbers were low – so low that news stories following Danza’s publicity
appearances in Time Square made it sound as though the actor were begging for
people to buy seats.
Positive
reviews from New York critics following the show’s official opening on Broadway
have boosted ticket sales a bit (grosses for that week show capacity at about
71 percent), but the buzz still seems to be that the show is struggling to find
its footing (it apparently is switching press representatives in a quest to
boost box office). So is the honeymoon
over?
Well, that buzz is
important and can close a show, so we’ll see. Meanwhile, I found Honeymoon in Vegas to be entertaining
and a chance to sit back and revel in the feel of an old-fashioned musical,
right from the opening notes of an overture played by a small orchestra on the stage (musical direction by Tom Murray; orchestrations
by Don Sebesky, Larry Blank
and Charlie Rosen) to parachuting
Elvis impersonators (Flying by Foy) to a tap-dancing Danza.
The plot is a bit sketchy, but it is based on the
1992 film. Book writer Andrew Bergman, who is adapting his screenplay, is
no stranger to reality-stretched plots (he co-wrote “Blazing Saddles,” for
heaven’s sake) and quickly establishes that we aren’t to take things too
seriously. There are the scantily clad showgirls (costume design by Brian
Hemesath, hair and wig design by Charles G. Lapointe)
to clue us in.
Stealing most of the scenes here are Rob McClure
(who dazzled in Chaplin) as Jack
Singer, a nice guy who wants to ask his girlfriend, Betsy Nolan (Brynn O'Malley),
to marry him, and Nancy Opel as his controlling mother, Bea, who, on her
deathbed, prohibits him from marrying. Jack tries to work up the courage to
defy his mother (who amusingly haunts him thanks to set and prop design by Anna
Louizos and Kathy Fabian of Propstar) and takes Betsy to Vegas to do the
deed. While there, however, Betsy catches the eye of conman gambler Tommy
Korman (Danza). Betsy, it seems, is the spitting image of his dearly beloved
and departed wife.
With
the help of his henchman, Johnny Sandwich (Matthew Saldivar), Tommy manages to “win”
a weekend with Betsy from Jack in a hand of poker and flies her off to his Hawaiian
estate with Jack in hot pursuit. (Louizos’ sets are enhanced by projections
and make for easy transitions). Kudos to Bergman for adding a couple of lines
for Betsy to question how she ended up being a piece of property to be wagered
between the two men. So often we are just asked to assume that women are OK
with being used.
Will Jack and Betsy ever get together? Will Tommy
win her over with his charm? Will Bea ever rest in peace?
The answers to these, and other fairly
easy-to-answer questions, are wedded in between more than 20 musical numbers
with varying styles and some really funny lyrics by Brown. The score is an unusual
one for him, though, in that it takes a back seat to the antics on stage and
isn’t full of long, sweeping and soaring melodies.
Truth be told, I don’t remember any of the music; and
maybe that’s why the show is struggling. The story on its own isn’t the stuff
of which Broadway musicals are made and Danza, though he was popular as Judith
Light’s single-father maid on “Who’s the Boss,” may not be a big enough star to
get away with not having a Broadway singing voice, even if he is charming. McClure,
with impeccable comedic timing and the multi-talented Opel are the ones to watch
here. If you want to catch them, I recommend a quick trip to the box office,
though. If the buzz doesn’t get better, this one might struggle to stay open
through the Tony season.
Honeymoon in Vegas plays at the Nederlander Theatre, 208 West 41st St., NYC. Performances are Tuesday and Thursday at 7 pm; Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at 8 pm; Wednesday and Saturday at 2 pm; Sunday at 3 pm. Tickets: $77.75 - $161.75; http://www.honeymoonbroadway.com.
Christians might also like to know:
-- Sexual situations and lyrics
-- Lord's name taken in vain
-- Scantily clad women
-- The Lord is thanked for a straight flush in a poker game
-- Language
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