In gambling terms, “Honeymoon in Vegas” – Diamond Head Theatre’s opening musical in its 2024-25 season – is a crap shoot.
The comedy stars Aleks Pevek (a great voice, has presence and comedic timing), as reluctant groom Jack Singer, who promises his dying mom Bea Singer, played by Amy K. Sullivan (manipulative and menacing, but marvelous) that he’ll never get married. But he falls for Betsy Nolan, portrayed by Jody Bill (sweet pipes, eager to get that ring to say her “I do’s”) and that’s the plot in a nutshell.
Director-choreographer Andrew Sakaguchi leaps into the challenge of creating substance and a winning jackpot despite the silliness of the slight book by Andrew Bergman and unfamiliar but pleasant music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. It’s like battling the slots in Las Vegas: it’s tough to beat the odds.
But everyone aboard seems to be having a party and eagerly awaiting a payoff, perhaps because the production has a couple of island moments. So why should anyone quibble.
Further, Aiko Schick (adorable, expressive, exuberant) as Mahi, with da kine local lingo, steals the show in her “Friki-Friki” frolic of a duet with Pevek in Act Two. So, place your chips on her, and you’ve got a winner.
Though the term is never utilized, there’s a bit of the aloha spirit in a pair of numbers, “Hawaii/Waiting for You” and “Everyday Is Happy in Hawaii.” And Kauai is one of the locales but the scenics — a drab, brown-hue painted mountain, not green — fail to identify “The Garden Isle.”
As Vegas gambler Tommy Corman, Kalani Hicks (charming, crafty) convinces Betsy to forget Jack and marry him because of his gaming debt – but it’s a sure bet that she’ll wind up with her beau.
A fun segment involves a small corps of Elvis impersonators, which Jack joins, compete with bell-bottom glittery costumes. But this is no ordinary Elvis look-and-sound-alikes. They fly. High.
DHT always succeeds in costumes (Emily Lane), hair-and-makeup (Aiko Schick), lighting (Dawn Oshima) and sound (Jericho Sombrio) but continues to fall short on scenic design (Randy Tandal). Back wall projections are not vivid and drops like the Vegas casino are mundane, not magical; roll-on scenery still are noisy. One specific scenic works well, however: Bea returns from the grave, amid a nocturnal, eye-filling archway, to give Jack the OK to wed his true love.
Musically, Mattea Mazzella and Jenny Shiroma are co-conductors of the nine-member orchestra and keep the tempo rolling. Alas, the opening overture is overlong, comprised of titles few know…
And that’s Show Biz…
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‘Honeymoon in Vegas’
What: A musical comedy by Andrew Bergman (book) and Jason Robert Brown (music and lyrics), based on a film by Castle Rock Entertainment
Where: Diamond Head Theatre
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 3 p.m. Saturdays, 4 p.m. Sundays, through Oct. 6; extension dates, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 11, 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Oct. 12
Tickets: $41 to $68, at www.diamondheadtheatre.com and (808) 733-0274