'Pretty Woman: The Musical' hews close to film original
“Pretty Woman: The Musical” - ★ ★ ½
For anyone wondering how closely the Broadway-bound “Pretty Woman: The Musical” hews to the 1990 film, the answer is very close — right down to the iconic red gown.
A Cinderella/Pygmalion tale, “Pretty Woman” starred Julia Roberts as down-on-her-luck sex worker Vivian, who agrees to spend a week as “beck and call girl” to Richard Gere's workaholic corporate raider Edward. Some hailed the film, directed by the late Garry Marshall, for depicting Vivian as an impoverished yet empowered woman who sets boundaries, negotiates for services and demands respect. Others criticized it for prettifying prostitution, celebrating greed and patriarchy and for insinuating that a makeover and a man, preferably one with a healthy financial portfolio, guarantees happiness.
But that's Hollywood fantasy. And while Vivian ultimately rejects Edward's offer to be permanently at his beck and call, “Pretty Woman's” premise is out of touch. And it can't be resolved by show tunes and production numbers.
Several moments suggest the creative team recognized the plot's thornier issues and tried to square them. But the attempts seem like afterthoughts. Case in point: the discovery of a murdered prostitute which segues into an exultation of Hollywood as the city where dreams come true — that is until the revelers remember Skinny Marie and send up a prayer. Then there's the shopping spree that Vivian interrupts to remind herself that it's not the clothes that matter, it's what's inside.
Appeasing platitudes all, but that's not what “Pretty Woman: The Musical” is about. It's escapist fare that fans will find appealing when it opens in New York later this year.
Directed and choreographed by Tony Award-winner Jerry Mitchell, it features a Top-40 ready, rock-infused score by singer/songwriter Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance. The book, by Marshall and J.F. Lawton, often echoes Lawton's screenplay word-for-word.
The show includes some funny scenes affectionately directed by Mitchell. Unfortunately, they play out on David Rockwell's underwhelming, neon-colored sets. Fortunately, the performances distract us.
Eric Anderson plays Mr. Thompson, the Beverly Wilshire hotel manager who takes Vivian (dimpled dynamo Samantha Barks) under his wing. Inexplicably, Thompson plays a second role, a superfluous street vendor of maps to stars' homes, who encourages Vivian's mentor and fellow prostitute Kit (Orfeh, whose rich, robust voice delights) to pursue her dream job as a vice cop. Now there's a Hollywood fantasy.
Tony Award winner Steve Kazee (“Once”) plays lost soul Edward, whose depression has tempered any cutthroat instincts he may have possessed. An expressive singer and likable presence, the understated Kazee beautifully delivers one of the show's best numbers, the lovely “You and I.” Edward sings it to an unaware Vivian during Mitchell's artfully conceived opera scene, which incorporates music from Giuseppe Verdi's “La Traviata” and showcases the considerable vocal talents of Allison Blackwell as Violetta, the courtesan who doesn't get the fairy tale ending.
Kazee's low-key performance in the underwritten role makes him almost invisible, although that's to be expected when you're standing next to the luminous Barks.
In a starmaking turn, Barks (Eponine in the 2012 film version of “Les Miserables”) knocks the anthemic “I Can't Go Back” out of the park. But my favorite moment was “This is My Life” during which Vivian — in a moment of trust and vulnerability — confesses her past. Vocally and emotionally, it's among the show's most satisfying scenes.
Not every number fares as well. “Something About Her” is a sweet but misplaced ballad. “Rodeo Drive,” which extols consumerism and objectifies women, is filler. The Act II opener that recalls “My Fair Lady's” “Ascot Gavotte” fails in comparison to the earlier musical.
For “Pretty Woman” to be great, it has to be more and less: less obvious, more bold with higher stakes and a better-defined Edward — one worthy of the empowered woman this musical imagines Vivian to be.
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Location: Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St., Chicago. (800) 775-2000 or broadwayinchicago.com, prettywomanthemusical.com
Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday through April 29. Additional 2 p.m. shows April 11, 18 and 25. No 7:30 p.m. shows April 15, 22 and 29.
Tickets: $33-$125
Running time: About two hours, 30 minutes including intermission
Parking: Paid lots nearby
Rating: For teens and older, includes mature subject matter and sexual situations