Pretty Woman The Musical At New Victoria Theatre Woking Review
DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW
Reviewed by Kelly Victoria
Last night I had the pleasure of watching Pretty Woman at New Victoria Theatre in Woking. As usual, the theatre is the most welcoming place and the perfect venue to visit and watch the best touring productions.
As a fan of the film, I was super excited to see how such an iconic film as Pretty Woman would translate to the stage and it definitely didn’t disappoint.
We were immediately escorted back to 90’s Hollywood and taken on a journey which did pretty much resemble the plot of the film.
Vivian (Amber Davies) encouraged by her friend Kit De Luca (Natalie Paris) hooks up with incredibly wealthy businessman Edward (Oliver Savile) and they broker a deal for her to drive him to his hotel and then stay the night.
Edward is captivated by Vivian’s unique ways and they end up agreeing that she will stay for the week and keep him company through the course of his stay in Hollywood.
Needless to say, they grow feelings for each other despite both trying to fight them and they fall in love. Edward decides there’s more to life than screwing people over through dodgy business deals and Vivian realises she wants more for her life than selling her body on the streets.
The pure nostalgia you feel as you’re taken on the journey from the film that we all know and love is truly wonderful. From Vivian in that iconic red dress, to the scene in the shop where they refuse to serve her, it really was still the most incredible love story played out just as I’d remembered it.
Richard Gere and Julia Roberts are hard shoes to fill… But Amber played Vivian well, with fantastic vocals. There were perhaps scenes where I felt that a little bit more raw emotion could have been used. But on the whole, she was great.
Oliver Savile played a wonderful Edward Lewis and was entirely believable as a suave businessman who becomes totally enraptured by Vivian and her quirky ways.
Natalie May Paris as Kit De Luca was the powerhouse that we’ve all grown to know and love. With vocals that blew the house down, she was an absolute delight and performed the role as Kit perfectly.
The performance of the night for me though has to go Curtis Patrick who played Happy Man / Mr Thompson with his showstopping performance. Holding the show together playing multiple roles, including that of the Manager of the luxury hotel he absolutely stole the show. Playing all of his roles with so much humour and gusto, but also being very endearing at the same time. He was an absolute dream performer and the show just wouldn’t have been the same without him. Curtis is a swing and so to have had such an impact on the show and to have performed the role so exquisitely, deserves so much credit. I feel really honoured to have got to watch him perform the role and really can’t imagine the show without him in it.
Giulio (played by Noah Harrison) was the perfect sidekick for Mr Thompson and also provided much humour.
With a wonderful ensemble cast full of energy and dance moves to match they were an absolute delight to watch and added to the 90’s ambience with the big dance numbers in the show perfectly.
The show finished with the whole audience on their feet clapping and dancing to a live guitarist and the cast singing the classic soundtrack hit from the film “Pretty Woman”.
Pretty Woman, the musical is a must see for any fans of the film and is a nostalgic trip down memory lane. This love story is so joyful, vibrant and full of appeal.
New Victoria Woking is home to this amazing touring production from 27th November to 2nd December with tickets starting from £39.50.
Rating: 4/5
https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/pretty-woman-the-musical/new-victoria-theatre