Honeymoon in Vegas, the new Jason Robert Brown/Andrew Bergman musical in previews at the Nederlander Theater, may be one of Broadway’s most promising shows of the season so far. Based on the movie by the same name, the show boasts an exceptional star turn by TV’s loveable taxi driving boxer cum maid, Tony Danza, an on-stage Vegas style orchestra that is a character in its own right, and a ridiculously talented cast.

One of those talents is Broadway veteran David Josefsberg (Motown, Les Miserables, Wedding Singer, Grease) who does double duty as Vegas lounge singer Buddy Rocky and your favorite Flying Elvis, Roy Bacon. I had the pleasure of speaking with David about Honeymoon in Vegas.

David, thanks for chatting with me today. Honeymoon in Vegas has had a long journey to its Broadway run. How long have you been attached to the project?

I’ve been doing readings and workshops for about 9 years. And I think [Jason Robert Brown and Andrew Bergman] have been working on it for just over 10 years. In that time I’ve seen all the different directors and so many different Jacks (the protagonist of the show currently played by Rob McClure) starting with Hunter Foster. I always thought that this was going to be one of those shows that “made it”.

When you started with the production’s development phase were you playing the same parts?

For the first couple years I was playing a bunch of smaller parts, a funny Spanish waiter, a guy at the card game and things of that nature. Then a couple of years went by and I moved into the Roy Bacon role. His role is the guy that is the Flying Elvis. His part has stayed pretty much the same.

The Buddy Rocky character has changed a lot. At first he was the lounge singer then he sort of became Jack’s conscience, the guy who pushes him to making some decisions, toward doing something. He used to be named Tony Rocky but you can’t be Tony Rocky when you have Tony Danza in the show because people get confused so they changed it to Buddy Rocky.

Full disclosure to our readers, you and I worked together in Les Miserables on Broadway in 2002. There isn’t much dancing in that show so I was impressed to see you dancing. I was unaware of your hidden talents.

Oh yes, I have extensive training in ballet (he pronounces the "T"), modern dance and funk (laughs). I’m really not doing a lot of dancing I’m making a lot of facial gestures and everyone else is dancing around me. I am the biggest face dancer that you have ever seen. I do have one signature move that I sneak in every show that I do. It’s a little drop to the floor. It is called the 'Jewishberg'.

I remember that move! At the moment you are heavily into the preview period heading toward a mid January opening. This means hours of rehearsal in addition to your regular performance schedule. Can you shed some light on what is happening during this time?

We have a long preview period. A lot of the things we are doing are the same that we did at Papermill (Honeymoon’s “out of town tryout”) but now it’s a lot more clean and flows better. We are making a little script changes and there are some cuts to songs, set changes and we have some extra people flying. I won’t tell you who…that’s a surprise. But it is really great to get to the nitty-gritty and fine-tune all the bits. And doing it in front of an audience is the best thing for [the show].

One of the truly standout elements of the show, other than you of course, is the fantastic orchestra that is like a true Vegas show band.

I’m going to put it out there that this is definitely the best orchestra on Broadway. And I think a few things about them. First of all they are on stage, they sort of get to play characters and they have costume changes. They also have solos that they play differently every night. It’s really spectacular! Everyone gathers backstage every single day for the overture so that we can listen to them.

Jason Robert Brown (Last 5 Years, Parade, Bridges of Madison County) composed the show’s score. This score is so different from his other work.

I heard Jason Robert Brown say in an interview that when he finds a piece, he lives in that world and he puts the music in that world and this is the world of Vegas. If Jason Robert Brown were in Vegas this is what that would be.

Tony Danza (Taxi, Who’s the Boss) plays Tommy Korman. I was utterly blown away by him, especially this tap number he pulls of effortlessly and with so much charm.

It’s really just fantastic. He worked really hard on that.

He’s the biggest champion of the show and he’s amazing! He’s 63 years old, he’s ripped, and he’s in perfect shape. Every morning he goes to the gym and every morning he does the 8am TV shows then double show days and rehearsals. And every day he’s been stopping by the TKTS booth to say “come see our show”. When you have a star that is willing to do that… And he really takes care of everybody.

Dave thank you for spending time with me today and congratulations on Honeymoon in Vegas, have wonderful opening!

You are so welcome.