Catherine Ricafort poses for the Filipino Reporter on stage at Broadway s Nederlander Theatre. Filipino Reporter Exclusive 1 / 6
Honeymoon in Vegas, the 1992 comedy flick starring Nicolas Cage, Sarah Jessica Parker and James Caan, is now a glitzy Broadway musical with TV and stage icon Tony Danza ( Who s the Boss?, Taxi ), Tony-nominated Rob McClure ( Chaplin: The Musical ) and stage diva Brynn O Malley ( Annie, Wicked ) filling the love triangle. Cast in a scene-stealing featured role is a Filipino-American singer-actress, Catherine Ricafort, in her biggest Broadway break as the island girl Mahi. The part in the screen version was essayed by a man, the late Japanese-American actor Pat Morita, best known for his Oscar-nominated character Mr. Miyagi in the 1984 film Karate Kid. It literally feels like a dream come true and it even feels unreal at times, said the Arizona-born Ricafort of her nightly engagement at the Nederlander Theatre on 41st Street on Times Square. I just love the adrenaline rush and entertaining a large crowd. It s so fulfilling. Honeymoon in Vegas, which began previews on Nov. 18 with an opening night on Jan. 15, 2015, is a musical by renowned author Andrew Bergman and three-time Tony-winning composer Jason Robert Brown, directed Gary Griffin and choreographed by Denis Jones. It tells the story of Jack Singer (McClure), a regular guy with an extraordinary fear of marriage, after his dying mother made him promise never to get married because no girl will ever love you as much as I do. Jack eventually musters up enough courage to propose to his girlfriend, Betsy (O Malley), and together they head to Las Vegas to get hitched. But smooth-talking gambler Tommy Korman (Danza), looking for a second chance at love, falls 2 / 6
head-over-heels for Betsy, who s a dead ringer for his late wife. Just like in the film, Tommy aborts the wedding and steals Betsy from Jack by flying her to Hawaii. As Mahi, Ricafort gets to share the spotlight with McClure in a hilarious number, Friki-Friki, where Mahi seduces and distracts Jack to keep him away from Betsy who is with Tommy in Kauai Island. It is also through Mahi that Jack finds a way to deal with his gamophobia in a very touching number between him and his mother s ghost that reduced us to tears. Every actor s dream This is very special to me because it s every actor s dream to originate a role in a new show, Ricafort told the Filipino Reporter in an exclusive interview. It s like a different level of accomplishment when an actor is the first person to bring this character to life on stage and there s no one else before you. Fil-Am New York travel specialist Zoila Mendoza, who recently watched the new musical, said Ricafort is an acting gem. 3 / 6
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Catherine scene from Ricafort the musical (far right) Honeymoon as Mahi, with in Vegas. co-stars (Broadwayworld) Nancy Opel and Rob McClure, in a 6 / 6