NEW YORK—What’s a girl to do when, just hours before her long-awaited marriage, some other guy tries to strong-arm her into wedlock! Such is the slim dilemma driving the sassy, flashy new musical comedy, “Honeymoon in Vegas.”
High-powered energy comes from the winning combination of the book by Andrew Bergman (“Blazing Saddles” and “Fletch”), and music and lyrics by Tony Award-winner Jason Robert Brown (“The Bridges of Madison County”). Directed with a firm hand by Gary Griffin, a glitzy, warmhearted production opened Jan. 15 on Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre.
Bergman and Brown’s buoyantly cheesy production, adapted from a 1992 movie starring James Caan, Nicolas Cage, and Sarah Jessica Parker, combines retro musical flavors with contemporary rhymes. The bright score pays homage, with big band and Rat-Pack flair, to a variety of prenuptial and Las Vegas clichés.
From the first notes of the accomplished overture, led by Tom Murray, the show feels confident and fun. Rob McClure (“Chaplin”), and Brynn O'Malley (“Annie” and “Wicked”) play Jack and Betsy, star-crossed Brooklyn lovers under a no-marriage curse from Jack’s deceased mother. Bravely deciding to get hitched anyhow, they rush to Las Vegas. There they encounter Tommy, (the irrepressible Tony Danza), a politely menacing gangster who plots to take Betsy for himself because she looks exactly like his dead wife.
Danza, best known for TV shows “Taxi” and “Who’s the Boss,” was previously on Broadway as Max Bialystock in “The Producers.” In “Vegas,” he exudes charisma and athletic charm as a suave wise guy. He easily compensates for his gravelly singing voice with seemingly limitless energy, and his onstage enjoyment is infectious, whether he’s blending with the skilled ensemble or smartly executing a smooth, solo tap dance.
