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On the Red Carpet for HONEYMOON IN VEGAS with Levi, Jordan & More!
Nov 8, 2022
Honeymoon in Vegas, the eagerly anticipated new musical comedy with book by Blazing Saddles and Fletch writer Andrew Bergman and score by three-time Tony Award-winnerJason Robert Brown, opened last night, January 15, 2015 at Broadway's Nederlander Theatre (208 West 41st Street). BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge was on the red carpet to chat with all of the evening's celebrity guests before the curatin went up, and below, you can check out interviews with Zachary Levi, Betsy Wolfe, Jeremy Jordan, Marilu Henner and more!
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0:00
Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World. The new musical Honeymoon in Vegas has come to Broadway's Needle Landra Theater
0:06
It welcomes back to Broadway Tony Danza alongside Rob McClure and Brynn O'Malley
0:11
And I'm here on the opening night red carpet where the stars came out to celebrate
0:15
Are you cold? I'm pretending I'm in Vegas right now. No, I'm not cold at all. It's warm, it's sunny, I'm about to go to MGM Grand, it's great
0:25
I feel the same way. How excited are you to be here tonight? I couldn't be happier. I couldn't be happier for Jason, the whole team, Bryn and Rob, just everyone
0:34
I feel like I've been part of the journey the whole time we were doing the last five years
0:38
They were doing this show. And so to kind of see it finally be opening night on Broadway is really thrilling
0:45
I've seen the show. You've seen it before, obviously, right? I have. I have. I've seen it before. But, you know, it's new again tonight
0:51
We're all going to pretend we haven't seen it yet. There's nothing like a Broadway opening. No, there's nothing like it. I feel really special to get to be here
0:57
and to be able to support the team. This show celebrates Vegas. What's the best thing that's ever happened to you in Las Vegas on a trip
1:04
Well, I did the last five years there in November, just a couple months ago
1:09
So I feel like it's just like all coming full circle. How excited are you to be here tonight
1:14
I'm very excited. I've heard a lot of great things out of Paper Mill and now the previews
1:19
I haven't been to enough. Actually, I don't know that I've been. This might be the first Broadway opening I've actually been to
1:25
I mean, I was at my own, but I wasn't. I was backstage. So this is all very intense
1:32
It's amazing. I'm excited to see the show. There's nothing like Broadway
1:36
There really isn't. What was your whole experience like, tell me, working on Broadway and doing a musical
1:43
I mean, it's, yeah, I don't know. It was one of the most incredibly challenging and..
1:48
There's Bette Midler. Bette Midler. One of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of my life
1:54
I wouldn't have traded it for anything. And I still keep in contact with everybody from the show
1:58
It was such an awesome season of life. And I learned a lot. I grew a lot
2:02
I hope to continue to do all that. This show celebrates Las Vegas
2:06
Can you tell me what's the best thing that's ever happened to you on a Vegas trip? Nothing
2:11
No, I'm kidding. No, I don't know. I've had some great experiences in Vegas with friends and family
2:17
And my sister got married there. And, you know, I don't know
2:20
I hit a roulette table one night up for like $1,300. I mean, you know, it's a fun time. Yeah
2:26
What have you heard about the show? Just all good things. All good things. I was at Paper Mill this summer, so I'm so excited for everybody
2:32
It's so wonderful. Did you know the movie well? No, not at all
2:37
But I can't wait to see the show. You know, this show celebrates Las Vegas
2:42
Yeah. You've obviously been to Vegas, right? I have. I have been to Vegas. So what's been the best thing that has happened to you in Vegas on one of your trips
2:48
Oh, my gosh. I did win $200 in Vegas. I know. I know
2:54
I did. That was the best thing. And how were your holidays? So good
2:59
It was so nice to be with my family. Peter Pan was a lot
3:03
So it was great. How much fun was it doing that? I mean, it was like being shot out of a cannon, wasn't it
3:07
It was. It was so cool and so great to bring theater into TVs across America
3:12
Okay. So you're here for your friend tonight. Yes. Jason Robert Brown. Tell me what's brought you here tonight
3:16
Oh, naturally. Well, Jason, of course, I have some friends in the show. I haven't seen it
3:22
And, you know, I'm very excited about it. I always excited about New Musical Theatre and of course here to support Jason and everybody in the cast I love being part of Opening Night Crowd There always a great energy whether you on the stage or in
3:37
the audience, it's always just this really loving and supportive. And all the critics
3:41
have already come. It's just friends and family and people wanting to have a good time
3:46
It's such a wonderful score. It's so unlike what we've heard from Jason, but Jason said
3:50
this is the closest to what he is when you hear this score. that's incredible
3:54
I mean I've only heard a few songs from it but that's that's really surprising
3:57
to hear him say that I'm going to have to grill him on that later ok let's talk about
4:03
the film I saw the film last week oh you did yes I've been to the film it is superb congratulations
4:08
tell me what it's been like we talked about working on it what's it like for you
4:12
watching the film watching yourself on film what's that like normally I hate it
4:17
I just cringe and do this and sit very quietly and judge myself
4:24
This one, I will say, more than anything I've ever done, I'm really proud of it
4:30
And I've never really said that out loud, you know. I might, like, lie about it, but this I actually really am
4:36
Parade, too. How excited are you to be doing that with Jason? Oh, I'm incredibly exciting
4:40
It's incredibly exciting. I love the music. You know, I love working with Jason
4:45
He's conducting it, and Georgia's in the pit. Like, I love them. And Andy, who's one of my best friends, is going to be in it with me
4:54
And I don't know. I'm really sad it's only one night. Oh, yeah
4:59
Yeah. I mean, it's going to be a crazy week, though, because it's the same week as the movie opens
5:03
It's just going to be a whirlwind. How excited are you to be here tonight
5:07
Well, Mary Lou, who remembers everything about everyone's life, made me realize that we have not all been together, including Jimmy Burroughs
5:18
since our closing night party, which is, you know, that's a ways ago, but it's lovely
5:25
And being here tonight for Tony. Oh, well, as you can see, we all love him. We wouldn't miss it
5:32
This show celebrates Vegas. What's the best night you ever spent in Las Vegas? Do you remember
5:37
I hate to say this because it sounds like a setup, but it was seeing Tony performing live in Vegas
5:44
This is my second time. Because I came during a preview and loved it so much
5:49
And I said, Steve, we have to get invited to opening night. Our friend Ana Luizas is the designer of the sets
5:55
And the sets are extraordinary. Tony's wonderful. Everybody's wonderful. I love the talent on the stage
6:01
I love the score. I love a score that makes you laugh. From the get-go, the first song, he'll see
6:07
Because I'm like an old hand. I've seen it already. I don't know the story at all. I didn't see the movie
6:11
She just came home and she was raving. I said, you've got to see it, you've got to see it. I wanted to see Anna's set
6:16
I love her work. This is just a throwback. When the doors opened last Friday
6:21
everybody came out of his theater so happy and dancing and singing on 41st Street, right
6:27
Yeah, it's that old-fashioned musical that we all really yearn for. And a show that makes you laugh
6:34
while you're singing it along, you know, with tunes that feel familiar
6:39
but are more modern than familiar. And that's what Jason's written the wonderful score beautifully sung by everybody
6:47
Choreography is wonderful look of it is wonderful. It's pastiche musical, and I think it's one of the best I've ever seen
6:53
I excited about this show celebrates Vegas What is the best time you two have ever had in Vegas Did you have one together Yeah we had our own Vegas We were invited to the opening of Phantom by Hal Prince
7:08
So we went down to see that and it was summer, I think, wasn't it? It was hot
7:12
It was so goddamn hot. And it just got hotter. How excited are you to be here tonight
7:16
We're so excited because we haven't all seen each other in so long
7:20
This is so exciting because we're all together. The whole cast is coming
7:24
Everybody's here, and we're here to support our buddy Tony, and it's just going to be a great night
7:29
Have you seen the show already? I did. I came during Thanksgiving, and so, yeah, it's great
7:34
It's fantastic, and that's why I couldn't wait to see it again. And to watch him tap dance
7:39
Well, I've seen him tap dance, play the ukulele, but just to be on a Broadway stage and to originate a role
7:46
and he got unbelievable reviews from Ben Brantley, so I'm so excited to support my friend and see the show
7:52
And, you know, this show celebrates Vegas. What's the best thing that's ever happened to you in Las Vegas
7:57
Oh, my God. Well, I got to do three months of Chicago at the Mandalay Bay, and I didn't want to go
8:03
My agent said, well, let's have some fun with your quote. He called me and said, they've made you an offer you can't refuse
8:09
I took my kids. We had the best time throughout the summer, and then they had to drag me kicking and screaming from there
8:14
because my kids had to go back to school. But the best thing, my kids learned to swim
8:18
They went to karate classes and, you know, there's nothing like performing in Vegas
8:24
Tell me what's brought you here tonight. Tony, of course. I mean, I have been around since he started taking tap dancing lessons and started taking singing lessons
8:33
and hoped and hoped and hoped that eventually he'd be able to make something of it
8:38
And I've seen his variety shows, which he's done over the years. But this is it
8:42
Like, this is the debut. This is what he's been working for all these years
8:46
And I'm here. I'm so excited. I can't even explain to you how excited I am
8:50
You know, Judith told me that it was all during lunch breaks of Who's the Boss that you all started tap dancing
8:55
How was your tap dancing then? I was okay. I was all right
8:58
I mean, you know, no, I was terrible. I'm just going to go with I was terrible
9:02
He was amazing. And that's why I did it, just to be able to watch him tap dance
9:06
Because he's a crazy good tap dancer. And he's only gotten better with time
9:11
The singing part was the part I was worried about, you know. But he's gotten there
9:15
And it's amazing. You're going to love tonight. This show celebrates Vegas
9:20
What's the best thing that's ever happened to you in Las Vegas? You know, I live there right now
9:24
So for me, it's this backwards thing. I live there. I've come to New York to go back there
9:30
Meeting my husband in Las Vegas is where we met. So that's for sure the best thing that's ever happened to me in Vegas
9:37
How excited are you to be here tonight? Oh, my gosh. I'm so excited. I'm sort of a Vegas native in a sense
9:43
I went to high school there. And so this story, I think I watched this movie
9:48
This is one of the first movies I watched before we moved to Vegas. So I sort of thought it was going to be like that, and it's not exactly like that, but I'm very excited
9:56
Do you have friends in the show? I was saying earlier, I did a reading with Brenna O'Malley a while ago
10:02
and she's just so great, and she's so talented, and I just can't wait to hear her sing this beautiful music
10:08
So tell me what's brought you here tonight. Tony Danza has brought me here tonight, and I've seen this show, and it's fabulous
10:14
and so I'm happy to see it again. I was here last Friday. I also saw it at Paper Mill. I love this
10:20
What a fun good, a fun-filled musical. I know. It really is. It's just an old-fashioned great
10:26
musical That what it is Everybody should come And to watch him sing and dance what it like watching him He heaven I mean I seen him do that and I seen his act and I saw it over the years I mean he been working on this for a long time doing his act
10:40
He's done Atlantic City. He's done it in Vegas. I mean, he's been around with this. But this is really his milieu
10:46
This is his meti, and this is what he loves. I want to talk about the tap dancing, because I saw his nightclub act when he tap danced
10:51
I know. It all started on Who's the Boss, didn't it? That's right. That's right. during lunch break on Wednesday afternoons
10:57
we would all have tap dancing lessons. And he's the one who said, I'm going to keep doing this
11:01
And we had a great teacher, Sam was Pat Rico, and he really stuck with it
11:05
And this is the result. Congratulations. It's opening night. How do you feel
11:09
I feel extraordinary. I feel really, really happy and mellow and excited
11:15
I had the best time Friday night. I was here watching the audience come out of this theater
11:19
and just sing your show to you. Just so happy. It's half the fun
11:23
The audience is half the fun. They're having such a good time, and it brings you back to days of yore at the theater, you know
11:30
Writing this with Jason, how much fun have you had writing a musical? It's been a long process, as you know, since you've interviewed me like 20 times the last part
11:38
But it's wonderful. It's a great experience, and we thought as one, and it's been a true collaboration
11:44
And if we can get another one off the ground before 50 years, it'd be great
11:49
And working with this dynamite cast. Oh, my God. They're so talented, and they're so kind
11:55
They're such a kind, supportive group of people. I mean, there hasn't been a nasty moment
12:00
and they're all rooting for each other. And it's like a musical of the 30s
12:05
The people of the cast really like that. I can watch this show every night, and I never get tired of it
12:11
I love it, love it, love it. How do you feel tonight? What are opening nights like for you
12:16
Oh, you know, they're a kind of horrible, pricking torture. But in this case, we started working on this show before my wife and I got married
12:28
So in that time, I have moved to Italy. I moved to Los Angeles. I moved back
12:32
I had two kids. And this show has still been gestating that whole time
12:37
So to be here, it finally feels like, thank God, we got the baby out of the birth c
12:43
It's just unbelievable. Now we have to slap the baby. Tell me what it was like writing this, working with Andrew on this
12:50
I mean, this is very close to who you really are, this type of humor, isn't it? When I was in high school and I saw The Freshman and I saw The In-Laws
13:00
and I saw Blazing Saddles and I saw Honeymoon in Vegas and I thought, I want to write a show one day with Andrew Bergman
13:07
He's never written a musical. And the idea that I'm standing here and I spent 12 years writing a show
13:12
with Andrew Bergman, who's my comedy hero, it's the best thing in the world
13:16
And it was a dream. The whole thing was a dream. and this cast you've assembled
13:21
Well, we couldn't get the talented people to show up, but everybody who came has really sort of stepped up nicely
13:27
and I think they did it. No. Just to have what we have in this cast
13:32
are we have great leaders of the company, and nobody's a better leader of a company than Rob McClure
13:37
who just will do anything and believes in it so much, and so to have him and Tony who both just
13:42
they'll fight for this show, they'll kill for this show, and you feel that coming off the stage
13:48
and the whole rest of the cast feels it too. It's been a real honor to rehearse with them
13:53
and to work on this show with them. You celebrate Vegas in the best way. What's the best thing that's ever happened to you in Vegas
13:59
on one of your trips there? The best thing that ever happened to me in Vegas was I got on a plane to go to Vegas
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