Musical Review: “Honeymoon in Vegas”

I recently took a vacation to Las Vegas only to discover it was not for me. Outside of Cirque du Soleil (which is the coolest thing I've ever seen); the smoke filled casinos, confusing slot machines, and overpriced everything wore me down. The trip to Vegas I took when I entered the Nederlander Theatre however, was a vastly different and pleasurable experience. I wish the real world locale entertained me as much as Honeymoon in Vegas.

The charming and funny new tuner from Jason Robert Brown follows the cult comedy film of the same name.  Commitment-phobe Jack (Rob McClure) is in a loving relationship with his dream girl Betsy (Brynn O'Malley).  They adore their New York life together, except that Betsy is desperate for Jack to finally pop the question. Though he is haunted by his mother's (Nancy Opel) dying wish for him to remain single, Jack finally musters up the courage and decides a spur of the moment trip to Las Vegas will be the perfect way to tie the knot.

When they arrive at their sin City hotel, a seedy gambler Tommy Korman (Tony Danza) falls instantly for Betty. Tommy rigs a poker game that forces Jack to lose $58,000. As Jack panics, Tommy pitches a deal: allow him a weekend alone with Betsy and the debt is paid. The plot mostly gets even more absurd from there. A trip to Hawaii, talking totems, and a chorus of Elvis impersonators stand in the way as Jack attempts to win back his fiancée.

You may be worrying about how ridiculous that summary sounds. But, director Gary Griffin absolutely nails the madcap tone of the story. He quite refreshingly embraces the old fashioned musical comedy style of the piece. It isn't afraid to go over the top and the book by Andrew Bergman (adapting his original screenplay) mostly serves that purpose, even if some of the jokes don't land as they should.

Jason Robert Brown contributes the musical's score and it's a complete about face from his previous work. Known for introspective scores about love and loss (The Last Five Years, Bridges of Madison County) Brown surprises with an upbeat song and dance collection. The numbers range from winking innuendo wordplay in “Friki Friki”, to toe tapping anthems like the high energy finale. The music is also spiritedly played by an onstage band that shows off their musicianship to some of the loudest applause of the evening.

The best decision the creative team made was casting the impossibly likeable Rob McClure as their neurotic leading man. A Tony nominee for the short lived Chaplin, he oozes charm and sincerity. More importantly he knows how to make those qualities work for laughs. The moment he enters the stage in the opening “I Love Betsy” (with a superb singing voice), you'll want to root for him the entire way through.

Tony Danza is entertaining, if not outstanding, in his Broadway debut. The actor obviously lacks the vocal chops of a trained singer, which stands out when compared to the cast of talented belters. But Danza has charisma to spare and turns out to be a talented showman. He infuses Tommy with enough sympathy and generosity so as to avoid being a caricature villain. His crooning and ukulele playing on “You Made the Wait Worthwhile” is a tender highlight of the show.

Elsewhere in the cast, Nancy Opel is predictably hysterical as Jack's mother. As an apparition she pops out of counters, garbage cans and any other object they could fit her into. She's a master of musical comedy and I only wish I got to see more of her. Similarly underutilized is the strong voiced Brynn O'Malley. She possesses killer comedic timing but doesn't get much thrown her way in terms of solo numbers. David Josefsberg turns out to be the scene stealer of the supporting cast, pulling double duty as an omniscient lounge singer and showboating Elvis impersonator.

Even though the director has united the team to successfully pull off the show's tone, the staging can be a bit wonky. Not helping matters is the fairly generic set design by Anna Louizos. She seems to have tons of fun creating the absurd elements of the set, but the rest lacks any ingenuity. And if you begin to wonder how often a character or set piece will enter/exit from the same trap door in the stage, SPOILER ALERT: it's every time.

Honeymoon in Vegas may not be trying anything daring or new, but it is completely refreshing to see a well crafted musical comedy on Broadway.  It is loads of fun, it doesn't take itself too seriously, and the bubbly score and charismatic characters are exactly what we need during the cold winter.

Honeymoon in Vegas
Nederlander Theatre
208 West 41st Street, Manhattan
Music & Lyrics: Jason Robert Brown, Book: Andrew Bergman
Directed by: Gary Griffin
Choreography: Denis Jones
Starring: Rob McClure, Tony Danza, Brynn O'Malley, David Josefsberg, and Nancy Opel
Run Time: 2 hours and 30 minutes, including 1 intermission