This ‘Pretty Woman’ really sings

Touring musical at the Denver Center revisits the popular film in a big way

Mining popular films from the past for big Broadway musicals may not represent the apex of theatrical creativity, but based on the size of the crowds that show up for these, it’s not a bad way to fill those big halls.

The latest of these to roll through Denver is 2018’s Pretty Woman – The Musical, based on the 1990 hit film starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. Ostensibly a modern-day princess tale where the downtrodden heroine is swept out of her misery by a dashing prince, the rom-com homes in on the financial power of the hero. The prince’s sword is an AmEx card, meant to slay the dragon of overpriced clothing, and while the “pretty woman” is celebrated for being just that, the physical attributes of the guy are never mentioned.

Payback for the mean girls at the Rodeo Drive clothing store

I sometimes think that you could put just about anything through the films-into-musicals machine on Broadway and arrive at something watchable if for no other reason than there’s a ton of great talent out there to make it happen. The ridiculous plot of Pretty Woman stands almost beside the point, as the bones of the story are simply a vehicle for a series of big musical numbers that are sure to please. And while the story in the musical mirrors that of the film pretty closely, there are some clever additions that make this version pretty entertaining.

The main one of these is the character of “Happy Man,” played by Kyle Taylor Parker. He starts off as a disheveled hustler of some sort, working the same street where the heroine Vivian (Oliva Valli in the Julia Roberts’ role) plies her trade alongside her BFF Kit (Jessica Crouch). He later appears as the manager of the Beverly Wilshire, at first a stereotypical stuffed shirt who subsequently reveals himself to be an ol’ softy with a penchant for breaking into dance when prompted by the extraordinarily limber young bellman Giulio (an effervescent Trent Soyster).

Kyle Taylor Parker and Trent Soyster

Any cynicism on my part about all this was greatly reduced by bringing my eldest daughter along with me. A legit cinephile with a very soft spot for rom-coms, Brittany is the kind of person who watches old favorites over and over — sometimes just as background as she does other things. Pretty Woman is a film she’s seen so many times that she can quote it line by line, and this musical delighted her to no end. When she noted that the rich-guy character Edward Lewis was played by Adam Pascal — a favorite of hers from the film version of Rent — it only sweetened the deal.

Despite corny and forgettable songs — the bulk of which focus on some theme of being open to change — the show has quite a few standouts on the talent side. Valli is tremendous in the role of Vivian, the perfect realization of an old trope about the hooker with a heart of gold. Tough as nails on the outside yet with a longing to be free of the street, Valli brings her to life with a hugely powerful voice and just the right mix of toughness and vulnerability. As her sex-worker bestie, Crouch takes yet another stereotype of the gum-snapping tough chick and breathes new life in it with an enormous presence onstage and a voice to match.

Adam Pascal and Olivia Valli, ready for the opera

It felt like Pascal is dealt some weak material in the first act, but he comes to life in Act Two with a number of great scenes and numbers that show off his own unique voice. But as crowd pleasers go, it’s hard to top Happy Man Parker and his sidekick Giulio. Whenever the going gets a bit dark, they show up leading song-and-dance numbers that channel the great movie musicals of the 20^th century to take the audience back to that happy place they came for.

Pretty Woman – The Musical ends up, as it must, with neat bows around each character’s story. It’s a fun night out and sure to please fans of rom-coms and musicals alike, even if its familiar story isn’t exactly breaking new ground.