Come To An Agreement (from Honeymoon in Vegas): Piano Vocal

Jason Robert Brown's score for Honeymoon in Vegas crackles with wit and emotional specificity, and this particular number captures the conversational ease that makes his writing so distinctive. The piano part sits comfortably under the voice while maintaining enough harmonic interest to keep accompanists engaged, making it a genuine duo rather than a passive background.

The piece unfolds like a conversation between two people trying to understand each other, with a lightness of touch that never tips into superficiality. There's warmth here, and genuine affection threading through the musical argument.

Vocalists developing contemporary theater repertoire will find this piece manageable in range while offering real musical substance. It suits students ready to move beyond standard audition material into songs that demand interpretive maturity and collaborative listening.

• Let the lyrical phrasing drive your tempo choices. Brown writes for speech patterns as much as melodic lines, so honor the natural speech rhythm of the text even as you shape phrases musically.
• Balance the piano accompaniment carefully so it never overwhelms the narrative quality of the vocal line. The intimacy of this piece depends on clarity of text.
• Explore the harmonic shifts that underscore the emotional subtext. Brown uses chord quality and voice leading expressively, so pedal work should enhance those colors rather than blur them.

Pair this with other intimate duets or two character songs to build a recital program that showcases relationship dynamics in contemporary music theater. It also works beautifully in a showcase of newer Broadway writing for students moving into advanced audition work.

• Stylistic choices in contemporary musical theater (text clarity, speech rhythm integration)
• Collaborative listening between vocalist and accompanist
• Harmonic analysis in popular music contexts
• Interpretive choices that serve character and relationship