Pretty Woman The Musical at The Alexandra, Birmingham - Review

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Tue 20 Aug 2024 - Sat 24 Aug 2024

Transformations are at the heart of the Pretty Woman story, so it is fitting that on its return to Birmingham’s Alexandra it is former journalist and TV presenter Ore Oduba who steals the show.

After stints on CBBC’s Newsround and sports reporting for BBC Breakfast and Radio 5 Live, and winning Strictly Come Dancing in 2016, the 38-year-old has transformed himself into a musical theatre star. At Pretty Woman The Musical ’s opening night’s curtain call he received the biggest cheer from The Alexandra audience after playing a variety of roles, including a Rodeo Drive store manager and an orchestra conductor, but mainly as Happy Man (the narrator/Beverly Hills tour guide) and hotel manager Mr Thompson.

His singing certainly impresses, as does his dancing which is no surprise after his Strictly victory. He also demonstrates great comedy timing – his cheeky comment about Mr Thompson being a former ballroom dancer hit the mark with the Strictly fans in the audience.



Based on Garry Marshall’s 1990 movie, which starred Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, Pretty Woman The Musical tells the story of sex worker Vivian Ward (Amber Davies) who is paid to spend a week with businessman Edward Lewis (Oliver Savile) as he attempts to broker a multi-million pound deal to buy a shipyard. During that week both their lives are transformed and their futures changed.



Former Love Island winner Amber Davies is a feisty Vivian, while Oliver Savile, who has appeared in TV hit Ted Lasso, is a solid Edward Lewis. In the vocal stakes, however, they are outshone by Natalie Paris (who was recently in the US tour of Six the Musical) playing streetwalker Kit de Luca, and Lila Falce-Bass, making her professional stage debut, whose operatic voice is a thing of beauty. Let’s also mention Noah Harrison as Giulio the hotel bellboy who provides much of the comedy, especially alongside Ore.



Of course, singers need songs to sing, and these are provided by rock star Bryan Adams and his songwriting partner Jim Vallance , well known for his work with the likes of Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne and Tina Turner. Their score comprises power ballads, stomping rock songs and melodic pop, all suited to the 1980 period in which the show is set. And at the curtain call, the cast and audience get to sing Roy Orbison’s Pretty Woman. Of course!



Pretty Woman The Musical is at The Alexandra, Birmingham, until Saturday August 24, 2024.

Rating: Four stars.


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