It would be a big mistake to miss it. Big. Huge.
If, like me, the 1990 rom com starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts was a firm favourite growing up, you will love, love, love Pretty Woman the musical.
It has it all. Every fabulous phrase from the movie is recreated on stage. Things working out for Cinderella? Tick. Liking the opera more than the Pirates of Penzance? Tick. Work it, baby. Work it, own it? Tick tick tick!
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From Hollywood Boulevard (skimpy blue and white dress) to the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel (fluffy dressing gown) Hotel and from the polo club (spotty dress) to the opera (red ball gown with matching ruby necklace) it's an absolute delight, with the recreation of the iconic costumes the icing on the cake.
From the moment the show opened with the immortal line Welcome to Hollywood! What's Your Dream? to the moment it closed with a rowdy singalong to Roy Orbison's title song and a lengthy standing ovation, I thought it was wonderful.
Pretty Woman, of course, is the love story involving workaholic billionaire Edward Lewis who has a chance encounter with down on her luck street worker Vivian Ward and discovers she's just what he needs.
Understudy Rebekah Bryant replaced the poorly Amber Davies, of Love Island fame, in the role of Vivian on opening night last night and was a joy to watch. She had great chemistry with the quite brilliant Oliver Savile in the Edward role.
Strictly favourite Ore Oduba was superb in the roles of hotel manager Mr Barney Thompson and Happy Man, as well as popping up elsewhere including a stint conducting the orchestra, amusing and delighting in equal measure.
There were also stand out performances from Ben Darcy, who was suitably slimy as lawyer Philip Stuckey, Natalie Paris who could certainly belt out a tune as Kit De Luca and the bell boy Giulio (Noah Harrison) and his amusing antics.
The new score, from the prolific pens of Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, perfectly matched the mood and the era.
The 2024 retelling of this timeless tale honours the original film while captivating a whole new audience.
It was so good I almost peed my pants!
Pretty Woman runs until Saturday. Tickets from mayflower.org.uk or 023 8071 1811.
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