HONEYMOON IN VEGAS Headed to Broadway in 2012-13?

The NY Times reported in early November that a successful reading was held in New York for Jason Robert Brown's stage adaptation of Honeymoon in Vegas, which has been in the works since 2007.

Now, Michael Riedel reports in the New York Post that the show is on the 'fast track' to Broadway, aiming for the 2012-13 season. The $10 million dollar production is to be directed by Gary Griffin (The Color Purple) and heading up the producing team is Dena Hammerstein.

The reading featured the talents of Broadway veterans T.R. Knight, Mary Faber, Tony Danza, Rob Bartlett and more.

Producer Roy Gabay told the NYT: "The show is in good shape, and we're really happy with the cast that we have, so now we're going to try to figure out next steps. We received a really good response from our audience at the workshop, so we're encouraged." 

Based on the classic 1982 film comedy, Honeymoon In Vegas tells the story of commitment-phobe Jack Singer, his not-so-patient girlfriend Betsy, and a professional gambler named Tommy Korman who hasn't gotten over his wife's death. It's also the story of a Hawaiian show-tune queen, a Las Vegas icon, a guy named Foccaccia and a team of flying Elvises. Book by Andrew Bergman (who wrote and directed the original film), music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown, this is a musical comedy in the Golden Age tradition, with gags, gams and great tunes.

Brown is the composer and lyricist of the musical, The Last Five Years, which was cited as one of Time Magazine's 10 Best of 2001 and won Drama Desk Awards for Best Music and Best Lyrics. He won a 1999 Tony Award for his score to Parade, a musical written with Alfred Uhry and directed by Harold Prince, which premiered at Lincoln Center Theatre in December 1998, and subsequently won both the Drama Desk and New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards for Best New Musical. Parade was also presented on a national tour in 2000, which Jason conducted. He also contributed to the Tony-nominated score of Urban Cowboy. Brown is the winner of the 2002 Kleban Award for Outstanding Lyrics and the 1996 Gilman and Gonzalez-Falla Foundation Award for Musical Theatre. Brown's first solo album, "Wearing Someone Else's Clothes," featuring his band The Caucasian Rhythm Kings, is available from Sh-K-Boom Records.

 

 

 

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos