Since lockdown there has been a succession of musicals derived from hit films, which have ranged from OK to WTF, this one, however, is definitely an OMG! It is a romcom which, for once, lives up to both sections of the portmanteau word, in that it is both romantic and a comedy.
The story is nothing out of the ordinary, in that it deals with a rich bloke who meets a poor, struggling girl and they fall in love, so that is everything from My Fair Lady through The Owl and the Pussycat to Sweet Charity. In this case, the ‘pretty woman’ is a prostitute in Los Angeles, whose patch is Hollywood Boulevard which, in spite of its association with the film industry I found to be fairly nondescript and seedy when I visited in 1989, about the same time as the flick was being made. The only things of note are the gold – brass really – stars on the pavement bearing the names of movie legends, most of which I had never heard of, but I presume were big on that side of the pond. In the show, the girls who worked there would use them to denote their patch, Vivian, our heroine had from Bob Hope to Fred Astaire. She tells one interloper in no uncertain terms to get to the other side of Tom Jones.
Oliver Savile as Edward Lewis with Amber Davis as the pre-gentrified Vivian Ward. Photo credit Marc Brenner.
It is here where she is approached by Edward Lewis, a billionaire businessman who specialises in asset-stripping companies, asking for directions to the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. When she says it will cost $5 he says that she can’t charge for directions. She replies that she can do what she wants and when he says he only has a twenty she snatches it from him and says for that amount she will take him in person.
One thing leads to another and she spends the night with him after which he asks her to stay for the whole week until he has to go back to New York. A price is reached and she becomes his companion, both inside and outside the hotel room.
Ore Oduba as Mr Thompson, manager of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, with his bell hops.
They obviously fall in love and, being from a broken home and raised in poverty, Vivian, played by Amber Davis, points out that his business model causes all kinds of disasters to the hard working people he makes redundant in order to close down the businesses so he can sell off the assets for a huge profit.
Obviously the story ends with her being rescued by a white knight on a steed, which was always her dream, and Edward – Oliver Savile – sees the error of his ways and, instead of liquidating the cruise ship business he has just bought, decides to invest in it and turn it into a going concern, thus rescuing the workers livelihoods. Aaaaahhhh.
Happy Man, played by Ore Oduba, with his guide books chats with Kit de Luca, the incredible Natalie Paris.
Although the story is formulaic, the music is wonderful, as it should be, being composed by Jim Vallance and Bryan Adams. As you would expect from the Groover from Vancouver, most of the songs rocked with the singing and dancing doing them more than justice. I did wonder if Mr Vallance had Sweet Charity in mind when, after taking advantage of the hotel suite’s facilities, Vivian burst into Luckiest Girl In The World as it seemed to bear more than a passing resemblance in sentiment to If They Could See Me Now. Amber Davis, Oliver Savile and Ore Oduba, who played several parts, popping up in the least expected places, were really good at interpreting their numbers but Natalie Paris, as Kit de Luca, a ‘work colleague’ of Vivian, absolutely blew the place away. Her gift for comedy also matched up to her vocal prowess. In this department, however, Noah Harrison as Giulio, the hapless, innocent hotel porter, had the audience in stitches with both his spoken repartee and his bodily contortions. It was kept in the funny zone of exaggerated physical comedy without going near the farcical/silly border.
Noah Harrison as Giulio, Oliver Savile as Edward Lewis and Amber Davis, Vivian Ward. Photo credit Marc Brenner.
With works utilising this storyline, the main source of humour is the way in which outsiders, such as the female lead, devoid of any of the accepted social graces, intermingle with high society, and also how they can be judged by the people who are used to dealing with the rich set. The LA setting was a masterstroke in the original book by Garry Marshall and J F Lawton, as it was built on image, so, once money becomes involved, all other shortcomings are overlooked. The sophistication of the east coast of the United States with its old money in places such as Boston, Chicago or New York is non-existent. Even the very first scene in which Happy Man, a tour guide, played by Ore Oduba, begins his patter by saying that everybody who comes to LA has a dream, such as Vivian’s white knight, and, as we learn later, Kit’s fantasy of becoming a police officer. I found that, as a stranger, especially and English one, if you ordered a Big Mac, you had the assistant’s life story by the time it was presented to you, just in case you could be of help.
The ensemble with Vivian in post-makeover persona
The orchestra, under the directorship of keyboard player Griff Johnson, was superb as was the set design which allowed the stage to be quickly and effortlessly converted from the penthouse suite at the Beverly Wilshire to the seedy sidewalk of Hollywood Boulevard, and various other locations such as a polo field and high end Rodeo Drive boutique.
Pretty Woman has restored my faith in screen to stage adaptations and I am only sorry that my next visit for one of the venue’s musicals will not be until November, when it reopens after being given a refurb. Fortunately I do have the ballet there next month so I can get one last fix in.
What with Come From Away and now Pretty Woman, the Grand is putting into action the old theatrical saying, ‘Always leave them wanting more.’
Pretty Woman is at Leeds Grand Theatre until Saturday, 25th May. For more details and to book tickets please go to https://leedsheritagetheatres.com/whats-on/pretty-woman-2024/
For details of what is on at Leeds Heritage Theatres it is https://leedsheritagetheatres.com/whats-on/
For more tour dates go to https://uk.prettywomanthemusical.com/tour/
All images supplied by Leeds Heritage Theatres
Tyke It To The Limit 