*** Everyone knows how I feel about live theater versus film, so when a film is reinvented as a staged musical, I am always concerned as to what they will do to the original product. The film “Pretty Woman” written by J.F. Lawton, was a huge success, in many ways because of the two stars, Richard Gere and Julia Roberts. For those unaware of the story, it is a wealthy man (Gere) who picks up a companion /hooker (Roberts) and ends up learning a lot about life , other than in the boardroom from the experience. In the film the chemistry felt by the audience made the story work.

Lawton and Garry Marshall ( known for sit-com TV) rewrote the book and added music by Bryan Adams & Jim Vallance. As you know, Roy Orbison’s song “Pretty Woman” was the title song for the film, and is missing from the play. Yes, they tease the audience several times, but at last, when we get to the curtain calls, they do the song and as one might expect, the audience ( they have been waiting for two hours and 24 minutes) joins in.

This show previewed in Chicago before heading to Broadway and I was unimpressed with the show at that time. I felt it was okay and fun and I still do, but if you can only see one show, there are far better choices. As for this production, Ellie Baker is an adorable Vivian and stays away from trying to be Julia Roberts ( except in her first scene, when they meet, she sort of resembles her. Edward is played by a strong voiced Chase Wolfe, who for some reason looked uncomfortable in the role. I know his costumes didn’t fit well, so maybe that was the problem. There was almost zero chemistry between them, making it hard for us to accept what turns out to be the surprise ending to the story.

The rest of the cast, the ensemble and other players, are terrific and some steal several scenes. They are talented, but the hokey things they do detract from the main story. Adam Du Plessis as “Happy Man” and the hotel Manager, store manager, conductor at the opera and others is a stitch. He is quite the dancer as well and the bell hop (Connor Kabat) is one heck of a dancer as well.

The songs are not memorable, but they are done well and the story is plausible, but not as good as the film version. The talented ensemble make the evening a success and worth paying for a ticket. Hats off to Matthew Blum, Brianna Clark, Kerry D’Jovanni, Lauren Esser, Charlie Fusari, Steven Gagliano, Matt Henningsen, Christian Maxwell, Alexandra Kinsley, Bethany McDonald, Blaise Rossmann, Taylor M. Sheppard, Devyn Tronsdon, Sarah Wang, Rae Davenport, Mikey Marmann and Channing Weir ( who I interviewed on last Sunday’s show- find it on radio at this site).

“Pretty Woman: The Musical” will continue thru Mar 17, 2024