HONEYMOON IN VEGAS struggling on Broadway — Page 13

"When it closes, another show will take it's place, which took just as much work and heart. Maybe lovers of theatre want there to be better vehicles for employment and talent than this. I'm on the team of all the sensible voices in this thread pointing out how outdated the humor is and how heavily it relies on stereotypes and gendered insults. I'm never happy to see a show close, but it doesn't make someone not a "lover of theatre" because they find one particular show distasteful.,

True enough but that will happen organically. When you go through the thread and read some of these posts, there is a tone of more than just distaste for a show. There is an actual viciousness that should be reserved for a mass murderer, not for a show. Everyone has a right to dislike a show but it seems to be a frenzy of an anticipated failure so people can say they were right. There really is no need for that. Sorry just my opinion..

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^^
Very true...

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I actually have to agree with that Phillypinto, Rachel Bay Jones made Catherine in Pippin absolutely hilarious!

Yes lets go back to HinV, that being said my friend went to the show last night and said that the theatre seemed pretty full.

I also saw the show yesterday (the matinee though) and found it enjoyable. But the theatre was packed. Of course it was Valentine's Day, and with many people having off on Monday for President's Day I'm sure there were more people coming into the city. But still the theatre was completely full as far as I could tell. A majority of the people I overheard talking about it on the way out had enjoyed it.

"Is it possible this will make it to the Tony's without bleeding money after all? Or is that too optimistic after just two shows that sold well?"

But what was the average ticket price? One good weekend isn't going to help the cumulative losses, either...

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Saw the show again yesterday and I again really enjoyed it. It is an entertaining show. I wish it would just find an audience. Celeb spotting Michael C Hall was in the audience and seemed to really enjoy it. He said he was excited to be heading back into Hedwig for a bit.

I saw the Saturday matinee, and I really enjoyed it. I feel I got my money's worth. (I had a discounted ticket, but still paid more than average ticket price.) The cast was great, the orchestra/band was excellent, and I enjoyed the score. I've never seen the movie, so all of the story was new to me. Is it the best show I've ever seen? No. But is is far from the worst. (Not even the worst of the weekend - that goes to the well-executed but painfully tedious On the Twentieth Century.) There is nothing wrong with old-fashioned fun, which is exactly what HinV is. And it knows it. While it might not be a popular desire these days, there is nothing wrong for a woman (or a man) to want a commitment after investing in a five year relationship. I'm not entirely buying the whole "misogynist" argument. She loves the guy and wants to be with him for life - good for her. From what I saw, Betsy made her own decisions throughout. Would I have made the same choices? Probably not. But she's not weak, nor is she evidence that the male writers hate women.

I saw it, thought the design was cheap and functional, the music generic, the performers generally winning with what material they were given, and the show to be so hopelessly classless and off-putting. "Old-fashioned" is good and fun, when done well and with respect, and can be incredibly entertaining. "Tasteless", when done with purpose (i.e. MORMON's fish-out-of-water underpinnings and it's commentary on the foundation of organized religion) is transgressive and progressive. HONEYMOON IN VEGAS' crude, culturally insensitive humor is done neither with respect nor purpose. The entire Hawaii sequence is so incredibly racially out-of-touch I'm amazed AAPAC isn't up in arms with this show. "Out of the Sun" is a one-joke (and a pretty stupid, offensive joke at that) tune that hammers it's one joke so poorly I was grimacing before it ended. The movie was written 20+ years ago and was already out-of-step with the times and cultural sensitivity, and the last two decades have gone by without this show's knowledge. That's not a compliment. This show feels old-fashioned, by which I mean I thought we as a society were past jokes about Pacific Islanders being "in heat" and broken English being a punchline because the speaker is so *exotic*

"I Love Betsy" is a nice, harmless, entree and then it all falls apart from there. Not even the occasional catchy tune can save it from itself.

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"Tasteless", when done with purpose (i.e. MORMON's fish-out-of-water underpinnings and it's commentary on the foundation of organized religion) is transgressive and progressive. HONEYMOON IN VEGAS' crude, culturally insensitive humor is done neither with respect nor purpose.

Honeymoon the musical isn't a parody, and the film was never a parody but supposed to be a straight, low-brow comedy. Book of Mormon is satire, much like Dogma the film is, and is pretty clear about that. Both approaches when executed well offer another layer of meaning, and the audience should be able to "get" the message, hence BoM having a different "purpose" as opposed to Honeymoon.

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Honeymoon the musical isn't a parody, and the film was never a parody but supposed to be a straight, low-brow comedy.

"Low-brow" is not a cover-all for offensive, stereotypical, racist material. Instead of punching up at targets worthy of derision/satire/mockery, or punching out with the intent of making the personal universal and binding us together in our experiences, it is punching down with the punchlines being pointed at perceived lesserness, otherness, strangeness or exoticisms.

HONEYMOON has little new to add, and no compelling reason for having been musicalized. Unlike other musicals adapted from less-successful films, like XANADU's inherent camp or HAIRSPRAY's candy-coated social commentary, HONEYMOON offers a marginal amount of song-and-dance bogged down by retread humor and cultural stereotypes.

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Even if the film didn't bother you or you didn't see it...is "Honeymoon In Vegas" a name that makes you actually consider paying money for? I had completely forgotten about the film and first time I heard the musical name, I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Vegas-THEMES are obnoxious in general.

I actually love the people in the cast and wish their talents were being used on something of better quality and exposure.

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