What Went Wrong with HONEYMOON IN VEGAS?

It's no secret on here that Honeymoon in Vegas remains one of my favorite shows ever. It was a true treat that I still believe deserved a better audience. To your question, though, a few things:

1) Geographically speaking, the Nederlander Theatre doesn't help any show. I believe Honeymoon was initially supposed to go into the Atkinson on 47th, which would've been a wonderful spot. Unfortunately, being south of 42nd Street simply does not get foot traffic near your marquee.

2) The show opened in January, which was a truly horrible choice to make. Unless you're opening with Hamilton-level buzz, distancing your show 4+ months away from Tony nominations season doesn't help one bit, and you have to be prepared with super deep pockets to get through the dark winter months.

3) It didn't have the "name" that a Broadway show needs these days. From what I saw at least, Tony Danza's name in 2015 elicited a lot of "aww yeah, I love that guy"s, but not enough "aww yeah, I'll buy a ticket for that."

Those are, I think, three fundamental reasons that led to its closing. Another one might include the fact that it was a "fluffy" show during a season of otherwise "important" theatre (for me, though, that was a plus). But, as Brantley's Critic Pick will forever attest, it was a truly wonderful show that just wasn't produced in the right way at the right time.

To me the show just felt so so SO tacky. It really wasnt funny and the their was no performance to really go crazy about. The music was fun, I'll give it that! The only part of the show I really loved was the NY scenes...maybe cause I'm a new yorker...not sure! It actually sorta does surprise me about how it failed cause I feel like tourists could've gobbled this down like easy...strange yes. I think ultimately they shouldve stayed with the Brooks on 47th, or maybe even shouldve tried for the Marquis and it would've made it a few more months. But in all honesty...it was just so tacky and not directed well, but of course that doesn't necessarily mean thats why it didn't do well.

Didn't really need to be a musical. The plot is pretty simple and you can figure out where it's going, which I think is why a lot of movie musical adaptions don't work. At least something like Groundhog Day didn't just copy exactly what was on the screen. I also hated he design and direction. The first 30-40 mins of the show were great, but then I felt like it was filler song after filler song.

They invented Truvada and it became irrelevant.

I wondered about the taste issue. I love Jason Robert Brown's "serious" work, but with the exception of the brilliant "Surabaya-Santa" from SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD, when he writes funny--HONEYMOON or "The Schmuel Song"--I tend to cringe. Tony Danza's song about his overly tanned wife is like that: I'm chuckling along until he compares her lovingly to "saddle bags". Yeech!

But that may just be me and maybe I haven't see enough of Brown's musicals staged.

What I would like to know is what they did instead of the giant ring of parachuting Elvis impersonators. The file was pretty much structured around that visual image, but I don't see it happening on stage.

Updated On: 9/3/17 at 01:36 AM

^^^So what about the Elvis impersonators?

1: Inept book by someone with practically no theatre experience, and who couldn't see his screenplay in a new light. The mother character started strong, but couldn't follow through. The islander characters were racially offensive cartoons. The lead, as written and performed, was so annoying and unattractive, Danza's character, problematic as he was, seemed a better choice for the girl to go with.

2: a score with some good songs, but more that felt like filler and two that were just in tone-deaf bad taste (the skin cancer number and that cringeworthy "Fricki-Fricki".

A one-two punch that knocked the project out.

It's a funny thing. People have had no trouble finding the Nederlander Theatre when there's something playing in it that they want to see. Like Lena Horne or Million Dollar Quartet for a year, Newsies for two years, or Rent for 13 years.

After sitting thru such a slog of a first act, and then having to see Tony Danza tap dance... I actually said "really?" out loud in the theater. Who wants to sit through this?

Friki-Friki number was so absurdly offensive and stereotypical.

Brynn O'Malley was the only entertaining part of the show.

This show getting NYTimes Critics Pick made me wonder if Brantley and Isherwood were getting paid off somehow.

Since it hasn't been mentioned here yet, if you look at the old thread on this show that grew to ~100 pages long or so, probably the most frequently cited reason that people mentioned for hating it was the egregious misogyny that is at the essence of the story and therefore couldn't have been overcome with a few script tweaks.

RippedMan said: "They did the Elvis bit...."

I'm sorry to be a nudge, RM, but I am relying on your customary kindness.

They did WHAT with the Elvis bit?

In the film, 40 Elvis impersonators parachute out of an airplane and make a circle in free fall before landing (on the Strip?--it's been awhile).

I've long wondered whether they tried to recreate that effect on stage (and if so, how?) or substituted something else?

Hey!!! I was the 9 to 5 thread!!



Honeymoon in Vegas was a super funny, campy, gem of a show and extremely entertaining. But they took a huge risk by opening it in the dead of winter at a large theater (Nederlander). And with high running costs and with tourists thinking "it's so cold! Let's stay safe and go see Wicked!" Also from what I remember the marketing wasn't that stellar. Some ads on YouTube and its own website but not much else.