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| Photo by Ruven Afanador for Vanity Fair |
Based on the film written and directed by Andrew Bergman, in which a sweaty Nicholas Cage tried to pay off a gambling debt with his fiancée, Sarah Jessica Parker. As long as you ignore the woman-as-chattel theme, you’ll have a great time at Honeymoon in Vegas. The onstage orchestra sets the mood with a terrific overture.
Tony
Danza is suave as the casino owner Tommy Korman, in mourning. Betsy Nolan (Brynn O’Malley) is a dead ringer for Tommy’s late wife
and a Vassar-educated teacher to boot. O’Malley has an edge that makes Betsy
believable. It’s stunning when she appears as a mirage of Tommy’s less
impressive dead wife, with crazy hairdo and manicure, chewing gum and
sunbathing in a bikini.
Rob
McClure’s sweet Jack Singer stumbles his way to heroic, but first wins the
audience singing “I Love Betsy.” When shopping at Tiffany’s for Betsy’s ring,
his mother’s ghost (Nancy Opel) hilariously rises from a display case. Jack’s
manipulated into playing poker with Tommy, who suggests as payment for a huge
debt a chaste weekend with Betsy. Insulted, Betsy ends their engagement and
stalks off with him.
Tommy
secretly plans to marry her himself at a 24-hour Nevada chapel, but first
spirits her away to his private island in Hawaii. The orchestra changes into
Hawaiian shirts for this part. Jack follows them and proves his mettle by
skydiving and by resisting the local women. Despite Catherine Ricafort’s vibrant
voice and selling of the song, “Friki-Friki” is a road bump.
Lyrics
and music by Jason Robert Brown are otherwise so clever that you follow every
word. Choreographed showgirls and Elvis impersonators add zing. Sleazy, cheesy
Vegas denizens are expansively portrayed by David Josefsberg, Michael Saldivar
and George Merrick and all of the others. Honeymoon
in Vegas is a very classy
production.
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| Head waiter, Matt |
Wolfgang’s
is a high roller’s steakhouse. The Times Square location has tall windows and
unusual spaciousness. It’s light and airy any time of the day. Park Avenue
Wolfgang’s has an amazing vaulted tiled ceiling. We’d like to visit all the
locations and compare them architecturally. They're
always open; lunch and dinner served seven days a week including
holidays.
Mouth-watering
smells hit as you walk in, and a one-page menu makes the choices seem
manageable. That’s a little deceptive, because it’s hard to skip extravagant
appetizers, like the specialty Canadian bacon strip that would be a main course in any
other country. Chunky crab cake comes with a cool and delicious herb sauce that
we’d like the recipe for. Tomato sauce, horseradish on the side, accompanies
the seafood platter and is also a fine sauce. Steaks and lamb come perfectly
seared and tender, with brilliant flavor. Baked potatoes the size of footballs and
chipped German potatoes lead as side dishes. Another favorite with guests is creamed
spinach that is pure spinach (without cream). Their famous Schlag with dessert
is so fully whipped, the way it's done at the Wisconsin State Fair, that you can cut it with a knife and fork, and it’s served in the
size of the snow bank outside.
