Ad disclosure: We were provided with press tickets for the purpose of this post.
James and I headed to The Alexandra in Birmingham for a child free evening yesterday at the press night for Pretty Woman the Musical. Currently on its UK tour, this adaptation of the iconic Julia Roberts film is on at the Alex until Saturday. A modern day Cinderella story, this on-stage retelling of the 1990 romantic comedy was highly entertaining, if somewhat out of touch with reality.
It’s rather obvious that 34 years later, a story about a sex worker that gets hired by a wealthy man for a week as an escort doesn’t land with the same impact as the original film. In todays “me too” society, a man in power buying a woman for the week, showering her with gifts & attention, and then planning to set her up as his in-town mistress is a somewhat distasteful storyline – even if they do fall in love and get together at the end. However, if you can ignore the morally grey areas of the story and just enjoy it for the fairytale that it is, then you are in for a delightful experience.
The original film was Julia Robert’s ‘big break’ and catapulted her into stardom, and her famous portrayal of the sassy yet vulnerable prostitute Vivian earned her a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination. Amber Davies (Bring it On, Love Island) didn’t have an easy job stepping into her size nines, though she did the role justice. She didn’t wow us completely in the first act, but shone like a star in act two with some fantastic vocals and expressions.
The music by Bryan Adams was enjoyable but somewhat forgettable – with the exception of the classic “Oh, Pretty Woman” which was sung by the amazing Natalie Paris (Six, Les Mis) and Ore Oduba (Strictly Come Dancing, Rocky Horror) during the curtain call – none of the songs were stuck in our head after we left the theatre. The cast sang them wonderfully, however – especially the opera singers that were hiding amongst the ensemble that absolutely impressed the audience.
This musical is a love letter to the original material, with many of the most iconic lines, moments, and costumes included. Vivian starts the show wearing the two piece lycra dress that Julia made famous, and stunned the audience in a red gown for the operatic number.
Ore Oduba was excellent in his role as a narrator and fairy godmother in one – switching between the Happy Man who asks the audience and cast “what’s your dream?”, the hotel manager helping Vivian to fit into this new world, shop manager who sucks up to the couple on their Rodeo Drive shopping spree, and even popping up in the pit as the conductor at the opera. The ballroom dancing lesson made a few amusing nods to his Strictly Come Dancing win, with the hotel staff giving him a full set of 10s to end the scene.
Vocally, the stand out star of the show was Natalie Paris in her role as Kit de Luca, Vivian’s best friend and mentor. One of the original Six queens, she gave a fantastic performance throughout.
There were plenty of moments that had the audience laughing, and many of them came from Giulio the bellboy, played by Noah Harrison (Grease, 42nd Street) who was constantly in motion with amazing comedic timing and the most hilarious range of both body & facial expressions. I think he absolutely stole the show at times!
Oliver Saville (Rocky Horror, The Lost Ship) did well as the wealthy business tycoon Edward, who finds himself completely baffled by Vivian and can’t help falling for her. His vocal performance was just as good as his acting, and he was a solid lead. Ben Darcy (Aladdin, Hairspray) made an excellent baddie as the slimy lawyer Philip Stuckey, and Chomba Taulo (The Book of Mormon) was great as the earnest David Morse, befriending Vivian and trying to save his family’s ship yard.
Overall, we did enjoy this fun musical, and the whole cast put on a good performance. The sets gave them a good backdrop without being distracting, and the choreography and costumes were both lovely too. I do think the music lets it down a little, but it did fit in the storyline and setting pretty well – it just didn’t make us want to add the broadway cast recording to our playlist.
I would definitely recommend the show to anyone who is a fan of the film and enjoys a good musical – at the end of the day it is an excellent modern fairytale about a girl following her dream, and who doesn’t love one of those? It’s a great escape from reality for a while, and was an uplifting way to spend an evening, with plenty of laughs.
The UK tour of Pretty Woman the Musical is at The Alexandra until Saturday 24th August, before continuing on to Nottingham, Northampton, Leicester, and Sheffield.
The show has a running time of 2 hours 30 minutes including the interval, and is recommended for ages 12+. You can find out more information, see the trailer, and book tickets from £34.50 at the ATG tickets website.
