Tuesday, 14th May 2024 at Leeds Grand Theatre.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Apparently, Pretty Woman the movie made $450 million at the box office back in the late eighties, and brought Gary Marshall and J.F. Lawton great acclaim. Seemingly having lost none of its appeal, the pair’s work is now strutting its stuff on stages as Pretty Woman the Musical. It’s a show which absolutely pays tribute to the movie as source but absolutely does not attempt to re-enact the original, instead fully embracing its new theatrical form and giving the story some great embellishments.
It’s an age-old story: boy meets girl. Except this time, the boy is a rich and aloof businessman with no desire to entangle himself, and the girl is a sex worker only humouring the boy for a decent pay packet as she tries to get out of dodge. But hey, this is a rom-com, and even if you’ve somehow never seen the iconic movie, I’m sure you’ll be able to guess how it all ends…
Jerry Mitchell’s direction and choreography is all style and speed. You won’t find yourself tiring of an over-long scene here as you’re never too far from a dance break, and the whole thing is geared towards a light journey through the story. I’d say it’s a real strength of this show that it knows how to deliver both the subtler elements of the central plot and the expected markers of a crowd-pleasing musical well, without one element diminishing the other.
And both the central and ensemble cast are brilliant. Amber Davies is a fabulous lead and gives Vivien a great blend of vulnerability and playfulness. She’s well-matched in vocals and has great chemistry with Oliver Savile as the suave, nonchalant Edward, who learns to develop his own playful streak through his dalliance with Vivien.
Speaking of playful streaks, Natalie Paris is a knockout as the charismatic, street-smart Kit De Luca – who not only boasts a solid gold heart but also solid gold vocals as she belts through her songs with phenomenal power. Meanwhile our other headliner, the great superstar of dance that is Ore Oduba, is all charm and knowing looks as he works his way through a variety of roles – perhaps most randomly as Happy Man, who appears to be a recurring attempt at a sung-through narrator, and most wonderfully as the kind-hearted Mr Thompson.
One of the biggest highlights of the show though is Noah Harrison as the adorably unprepared Bellboy Giulio, who happens to have superb dancing feet as well as cracking comic timing and physicality. His sequences with Oduba are a delight and provide a glowing example of the way this show is embracing its theatrical form and letting in-jokes and tangential dancing ops bring joy to live audiences.
While the vocals are powerful and impressive, music and lyrics from Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance is admittedly a little more patchy. It’s all perfectly geared towards the story and fun-loving tone of the piece, but the music finds more success with meaningful ballads than their boppier numbers, which lean wholeheartedly into the more obvious/cheesier brand of lyrics – it’s songs like “Anywhere but Here”, “Freedom” and the soaring high point “I Can’t Go Back” that sell the music for this show I think.
David Rockwell’s scenic design also delivers well on the spectacle elements of a bright-eyed, bouncy musical, and relies heavily on the sharp pace with which scenery and props fly in and transform the space – and it works extremely well. And let’s not forget the all-important costuming here – Tom Rogers’ costumes vary from the hip, rebellious fashions of those making a living out on the street to the stylish, tailored world into which Vivien is so suddenly thrust – and also delivers on the iconic looks of the movie.
What I love most about this show (aside from its cracking cast) is the way it tells the story we know but makes no efforts to produce a carbon copy on stage – it strikes out in its own right and offers up a fantastic evening of light and lively entertainment with some great theatrical flourishes. I’d say if you love the movie and the story, this is a show you’ll want to see!
Pretty Woman is at Leeds Grand Theatre until May 25th 2024 – more information and tickets can be found here.
Always Time For Theatre 
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