Arts

Pretty Woman disappoints

by Jules Becker
Thursday Jan 27, 2022

Olivia Valli (center) and the company of "Pretty Woman: The Musical."MATTHEW MURPHY FOR MURPHYMADE
Olivia Valli (center) and the company of "Pretty Woman: The Musical."MATTHEW MURPHY FOR MURPHYMADE  

Pretty Woman, national tour presented by Broadway in Boston at Citizen Bank Opera House, Boston, through January 30. BroadwayinBoston.com (also Mortensen Hall, The Bushnell, Hartford, Connecticut, April 26-May 1)

What is your Broadway dream? The musical version of "Pretty Woman" should not be the answer. As with earlier such re-workings of hit films like "Flashdance" and "Dirty Dancing," the 2018 show lacks the inventiveness and memorable new music of stage editions of "The Full Monty" and "Kinky Boots."

The shortcomings here are all the more disheartening since director-choreographer Jerry Mitchell fired up "The Full Monty" with such lively moves as a basketball-inspired ensemble and "Kinky Boots" with winning work for Lola and her entourage. Unfortunately, talented leads, several strong voices, and an especially versatile supporting player cannot make the tour of "Pretty Woman the Musical" a magical diversion.

Like "Flashdance" and "Dirty Dancing," "Pretty Woman" is too faithful to its 1990 film origin—seeming to favor easy duplication over imaginative development and going as far as returning to familiar quips from the Julia Roberts and Richard Gere-starring hit. The fairy tale-like blossoming of Vivian with Prince Charming-like Edward Lewis is all here—as the Hollywood Boulevard call girl moves during one week from suggestive street clothes to Beverly Hills attire and evening gown for "La Traviata" at the San Francisco Opera as their romance takes flight.

Sadly the book by Gary Marshall & J.F. Lawton (the latter who wrote the movie screenplay) never makes much of Vivian and Edward's respective transformations—factors that would account for the understanding and love that grow between them.

At the same time, the Bryan Adams & Jim Vallance score suffers from numbers that need more vivid detail and personal connection where the two main characters are concerned. Edward's solo "Freedom" fails to express full feeling about escaping from rough business practices and an all-work mindset. Vivian's "This Is My Life" ought to have much more to say about her openness to self-realization. If anyone bursts forth in this musical it is Happy Man—who becomes the Regent Beverly Wiltshire's hotel manager Barnard Thompson and a kind of Everyman as well as several other characters.

At least "Don't Forget to Dance" gives Thompson—played with charm and panache by Kyle Taylor Parker—an opportunity to let himself go. In fact, Thompson's suggested sexual fluidity—dancing with male hotel staff as well as taking a turn with Vivian—comes across as more honest than relatively subdued moments of intimacy between Vivian and Edward.

Those moments should escalate in intensity—particularly with performers as talented as Olivia Valli and Adam Pascal (the original Roger in "Rent"). For the record, Valli and Pascal sing robustly and do their very good best to bring some fire to the generally weak score.

What is worse, Lawton's tame book prevents appealing Valli from doing justice to Vivian's early unrestrained high spirits. Likewise, dashing Pascal is forced to insert some entrepreneurial toughness to an underwritten characterization of Edward. Fans of the film will be surprised that Vivian—not Edward, unlike in the film--hits self-absorbed and sexually harassing business associate Philip. Big-voiced Jessica Crouch has a few moments to shine as Vivian's street colleague Kit De Luca, and Amma Osei displays beautiful tone as Violetta in "La Traviata."

As always, Vivian rescues Edward right back. By contrast, no such rescue saves an essentially soulless "Pretty Woman the Musical."

Anyone who missed the sublime Moonbox Productions revival of the Broadway hit "Passing Strange" can catch it digitally streaming at Broadway on Demand (https://bit.ly/SeePassingStrange).