Thats the challenge thatPretty Woman: The Musicalfaces.
), it would be hard to find a bigger no-brainer than Garry Marshalls 1990 hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold romantic comedy.
How could it possibly not be a license to print money?
Credit: Matthew Murphy
Shes any potential Broadway spin-offs phantom limb.
And thats not even getting into how the storys retrograde gender politics will play in the #MeToo era.
And theres a reason for that.
Lawton, is almost a word-for-word transcription of the movie.
Its the definition of fan service.
And second, no Broadway show has ever gone wrong by casting Andy Karl.
The actress best known from the 2012Les Miserablesfilm looks and sounds uncannily like Roberts Vivian Ward.
But this is no mere mimicking act.
after the first few scenes.
Yes, shes that good.
And the sets by David Rockwell have flashes of real sleight-of-hand wit.
Here comes that And yet… again.
And yet,Pretty Womandoesnt quite work as a musical.
Or, at least, notthismusical.
The lyrics can be downright lazy.
Theres pleasure to be had atPretty Woman: The Musical, to be sure.
But its the pleasure of familiarity, not novelty.
But the full-of-filler second act is deadly and drawn out.
I want to be clear:Pretty Womanwill sell a lot of tickets and make a ton of money.
It will confirm Karls undimmable star power.
And if theres any justice, it will make Barks one too and lead to many more starring roles.
But the show is too faithful, too on-the-nose.
Oddly enough, it may not be Julia Roberts, but its something even more important in the end magic.B-
