"Honeymoon in Vegas" Preview Thread- Page 4

[CoreyRyan3]

Posted: 11/19/14 at 10:49pm

"I could see Honeymoon, An American in Paris, Finding Neverland, The Visit, just to name a few, gain the traction to win."

I've seen 3 of those 4 shows and I could only see maybe 1 gaining enough traction to beat Fun Home.

[Mike Costa]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 11:04am

Thanks for your nice list, Jeff.
As you can see, Tony voters, forty percent of whom are out of town presenters, vote for whatever musical is going to make them the most money on the road. It is always the safe, light hearted choice that is the winner since it is all about what will sell best on the road.
The interesting exception to this was when Ave Q won over Wicked. The Ave Q producers famously explained to the voters that Wicked was going to sell out in their theaters regardless so they may as well vote for Ave Q and have a chance at having two shows that would sell out… and gave them gift bags.
The awards are given by Broadway Producers, they are not about artistic success, they are a marketing tool.

[SayitSomehow]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 11:06am

Well that really sucks the wind out of it, huh?

Funny how we still pretend like it's an artistic merit award in the way it's covered and discussed. Sad world.

[holdyourbatboy]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 11:41am

Saw this last night. Thought it was a thoroughly bland and mediocre show. I'm a normally a fan of JRB's music, but everything about HONEYMOON IN VEGAS fell flat for me. It just didn't feel Broadway-caliber... it was a paint-by-the-numbers show from the staging to the design to the writing. It wasn't awful, but it was all just "okay". Nothing really leaped off the stage or generated any kind of real excitement. Many around me felt the same way. Maybe the NYTimes rave worked against it in a way, as I had very high hopes.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 11:56am

It is always the safe, light hearted choice that is the winner since it is all about what will sell best on the road.
The interesting exception to this was when Ave Q won over Wicked.

That is not the only exception to that theory:

Passion>Beauty and the Beast
Spring Awakening>Mary Poppins
Once>Newsies

And there was no reason to believe Gentlemen's Guide would be more commercially viable than either Aladdin or Beautiful.

Everyone loves to hypothesize about Tony votes, and the "out-of-town producers" is the most popular theory (when people are disappointed their favorite doesn't win), but it's still just a theory. Another theory is that when an underdog show wins, it is because the more commercial nominees don't need the award since they will probably be successful on the road. So which is it?

I knew a Tony voter who was an out-of-town producer and his votes weren't based on touring prospects. It was based on personal preference (which usually didn't align with mine).

Funny how we still pretend like it's an artistic merit award in the way it's covered and discussed. Sad world.

Depends on which story you're willing to buy. All awards are used as marketing tools. The reasons the awards are given are in the minds of each individual voter for each category. They are not in the crystal balls of BWW members.

Updated On: 11/20/14 at 11:56 AM

[JayG 2]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 12:09pm

The only work they've done on the show is changing the sets ! Good God, have they lost their minds. This show needed major surgery. It was. a dud in NJ last year. . . and I don 't care what Brantley's review stated. It was not good. Pedestrian is the best that can be said about it.

[stevie3]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 12:46pm

You better check your medicine cabinet and check to see what your doctor prescribed.This show is a crowd pleaser

[juice23]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 2:36pm

I saw this last night from the absolute best seat I have ever been given through TDF.

For a second preview, the show ran smoothly aside from them having to stop and reset the opening number two minutes in due to a set piece glitch, and a rather overly long intermission. Tony Danza came out to schmooze while we were waiting for the reset to happen, and Rob was also fooling around on stage to lighten the mood.

I enjoyed the show. It was very cute, and the sets were great. They used the stage very well. I agree with previous posts that they could use a few more winning jokes, and I felt like there needed to be a couple more tempo variations at times in the score. I felt like Tony sang three solos in a row that all were mid-range tempo wise, and I found my mind wandering. His Act II solo is the best writing for him, and his tapping was excellent.

I thought Rob Mcclure was really great. He sounded fantastic, he's a great dancer, and he effectively made me both like and dislike his character at various parts of the show.
Brynn looks fantastic, but her voice sounded a bit hoarse at times and didn't really shine. I thought her acting was great.

The Elvis number in ACT II was the highlight of the evening, and had the best choreography and costuming of the evening.

I was also impressed with the lighting.

I'm glad I went and saw this. It was certainly different than the other things I've known and loved from Jason Robert Brown, and I think the score will grow on me over time.

Just curious if anyone who saw it thought anything of the fact that Jack and Betsy were together 5 years, or the line about the corn in Iowa. Not familiar with the film, but thought they might have been "in" jokes referencing Mr. Brown's previous musicals.

The man next to me was the most miserable human being on the planet and hated the show, and made no qualms about displaying and vocalizing his disapproval. I was really hoping he would leave at intermission or shut the hell up. I wonder if it was someone from this board...if so...I have two guesses.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 2:55pm

"I saw this last night from the absolute best seat I have ever been given through TDF. "

Care to tell us where it was?

[VanillaIceCream2]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 3:01pm

juice23--where does the line about corn in iowa appear? i think the five years of dating is in the movie, but it'd be funny if JRB included the iowa line as an in-joke.

[SayitSomehow]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 3:02pm

TDF gave me a great seat as well. 4th row left side orchesta, 4 seats deep. Superb compared to their usual.

[JayG 2]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 4:58pm

stevie3, a lot of people on these boards are rhapsodizing about this show because of Brantley's review - whether they realize it or not (and please don't tell me otherwise). The show is mediocre. Not awful, just mediocre. A lot of people are perfectly content with mediocrity. I've lately felt that only mediocrity can survive on B'way today because of the clientele it now attracts. Would Death of a Salesman or Streetcar last as long as they did if they opened today. No. they would be at a non profits and eek out a six week runs. But at these outrageous prices, shouldn't we be getting shows that are more than hamburger.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 5:03pm

I still think at this point in the season that FUN HOME is the front runner for the Best New Musical Tony Award.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 5:48pm

^Regardless of the fact that it hasn't even opened yet? What if it's a complete disaster at Circle in the Square?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 5:55pm

stevie3, a lot of people on these boards are rhapsodizing about this show because of Brantley's review - whether they realize it or not (and please don't tell me otherwise).

Would Death of a Salesman or Streetcar last as long as they did if they opened today. No. they would be at a non profits and eek out a six week runs.

But did your crystal ball make any valid comparisons? Or does it just make asinine assumptions? Obviously, it's the latter (and please don't tell me otherwise).

If opinions are facts, then why do we call them different things? Actually, they're not and we don't (and please don't tell me otherwise).

[JayG 2]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 6:38pm

^ Huh?

[Phillypinto]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 8:40pm

Hamburger has always been on Broadway

[juice23]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 9:03pm

I didn't read the ny times review, so maybe it's possible some of us are capable enough of forming our own opinion/ are ok with occasionally having a fun time at a show.

My seat was row H in the orchestra, seat 7. Great view And felt very close. The leg room was problematic though as I'm a little over 6'3".

The line about Iowa happened at Tonys entrance into the casino. He said how much he missed it, and his sidekick said something about it being like missing Iowa every time you see corn.

[broadfan327]

Posted: 11/20/14 at 11:29pm

I saw it Wednesday night, and I thought it was mediocre. This is the first Broadway show in a long time where I did not like the casting. Normally even the terrible shows are casted well. I can't get over the mediocre singing that I saw from some of the leads. I am repeating some of what I have read above , but the LCD screens made the show look cheap (one section of a panel was not working properly), it was light on laughs and choreography (couple of Vegas showgirl scenes that could have featured more dancers in them, IMO). The score is the star of the show, but we need leads that can do it more justice.

[Phillypinto]

Posted: 11/21/14 at 2:57am

Let's not forget that they are only opening in January and still have a LOT of time to make changes and listen to audience reactions. Hopefully this turns out to be a hit!

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 11/21/14 at 9:16am

I saw this last night and thought it was pretty awful. Brynn O'Malley can't hit the high notes, the story is unfunny and offensive.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 11/21/14 at 9:19am

Gosh, the divide on opinions for this show is so extreme.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 11/21/14 at 9:41am

I'm a fan of JRB's and I thought the music was unremarkable. I can't tell you one song that was in the show without looking at the list. Also, Tony Danza's skin cancer song is awful and needs to go.

[newintown]

Posted: 11/21/14 at 9:50am

"Let's not forget that they are only opening in January and still have a LOT of time to make changes and listen to audience reactions."

Because Lord knows they haven't had any time to do that already, despite a full-scale production a few minutes from Broadway that happened more than a year ago and a full workshop three years ago.

I don't believe we're hearing much about the book - that little thing that usually decides a show's success or failure. Andy Bergman, although he has enjoyed a few Hollywood hits, has only written once before for the theatre, a forgotten but semi-successful play called Social Security that ran for 11 months almost 30 years ago.

Updated On: 11/21/14 at 09:50 AM

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 11/21/14 at 9:56am

The book is fine. It mostly moves quickly (which can't be said for a lot of shows) through the plot without confusion. I didn't laugh much though. Maybe someone who liked the show can better speak to it.