Pretty Woman: The Musical - Savoy Theatre, London - Sunday 7th May 2023

Work it! Work it, baby, work it!! My second time seeing this joyous musical based on the hit 1980's film... was it as good as last time?! Read on to find out!

Story & Cast

I'd never seen the film before watching this show back in December so I had little knowledge of the story apart from the basics. I went with Mama Wendy on both trips and she is a big fan of the film so expectations were high for her.

The story is a typical 80's/90's rom-com kind of story... under-appreciated girl meets rich guy and ends up falling in love. Nothing too hard to follow but a nice heart-warming theme all the way through.

There are a few changes to the plot from the film the biggest one being the Hotel Manager teaching Vivienne how to dance rather than use cutlery before dinner with Edward. This made for a much better dance number between the Hotel Staff and the Manager, one of my favourite songs in the show!

The cast were phenomenal from start to finish! Our leads were:

Vivienne - Aimie Atkinson

Edward - Tom Andrew Hargreaves (Cover)

Kit De Luca - Courtney Bowman

Happy Man - Andy Barke

Philip Stuckey - Ben Darcy (Cover)

James Morse - Mark Holden

Violetta - Jemma Alexander (Cover)

Alfredo - Matt Bateman (Cover)

Aimie Atkinson delivered a stunning performance as Vivienne and Mama Wendy said the likeness to Julia Roberts at certain points was uncanny. Sometimes I'm not too keen on copying movement or vocal stylings from other people who have played the role but I feel like with such an iconic film such as Pretty Woman it's very much allowed.

Her voice is so crisp and clear during the songs with some very powerful moments both emotionally and vocally. I was very lucky to see Aimie in the original UK tour cast of Six so I was very excited to see her in this.

Courtney Bowman is someone I'd watch in anything! She is a complete powerhouse in every sense of the word from her acting to her vocals, nothing seems hard for her! Some of the best singing in the show came from her!

Tom Andrew Hargreaves was covering Edward Lewis today for Oliver Tompsett. Which at first I was a little disappointed about not because of Tom but because I LOVE Oliver Tompsett after seeing him in & Juliet. However, my disappointment soon melted away! He connected with Aimie so well and his voice melted my heart like a warm plate of butter.

Last time I saw the show I had another cover Edward who delivered the role in such a different way than Tom but I must say his emotional journey throughout the show was much more developed and during the song 'You and I' at the opera, he had both me and Mama Wendy tearing up.

The 'Narrator' of the show, if you like, is the Happy Man character played by Andy Barke. This role is so crazy as it includes so many different characters! Andy was so versatile and quick at changing in and out of each character, if your sight isn't that great you'd be excused for thinking it was a different person each time. A real comedic timing master, I really hope he's in the cast for the tour!

I want to give a special shout out to Jemma Alexander for playing the role of Violetta as well as other supporting roles in the show. another comedic timing genius with amazingly funny facial expressions as the shop assistant who refuses to serve Vivienne on Rodeo Drive. On the other hand she delivers an immense operatic performance during 'You and I'. So powerful, so emotional and absolutely amazing. A real stand out in the cast.

Set and Sound

I'll start with the sound, this time around. There's a really big difference in sound quality from sitting in the Stalls to the Circle. I don't know if it's the placement of the speakers but I struggled to hear the spoken lines as much in the Circle and the group vocals sounded a bit muffled too.

Maybe this is a theatre problem over the show but I can see how it would impact a first time viewer. I can only imagine it is worse up in the Grand Tier.

I will say, however, the band were amazing! The opening few bars of music could be felt throughout your whole body. It was an amazing powerful start to the show and it stayed all the way through the show. A big shoutout to the 'conductor' of the Opera scene... you guessed it! It's Happy Man!!

The set is good throughout the show. The set of the street that Vivienne and Kit work on is graffiti filled and has a rusty, dilapidated apartment block. We then see a stark contrast going to the Beverly Witshire Hotel which is all faux marble and opulence. I love the bath in Edwards room that Vivienne uses at one point. The bubbles in said bath are cleverly done to look so real but keep Vivienne dry at the same time.

Overall

I think I've found a new show that I could re-watch over and over again. Its so heart-warming, full of comedy and heart-string pulling moments and has a great soundtrack to go with it.

I cannot wait for the UK Tour as I'm sure I'll see it more than once when it's in Manchester!

Story ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cast ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Set ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Sound ⭐⭐⭐

Overall ⭐⭐⭐⭐