Word that Pretty Woman could be making its way to the Broadway stage in musical form may have some of us already imagining musical versions of Natalie Cole's "Wild Women Do" and Christopher Otcasek's "Real Wild Child," but we may be getting ahead of ourselves in hoping that any of the music from the film's soundtrack will be worked into stage production. At this point, it sounds like this project is still in the talks stage. It's not a sure thing, but plans are reportedly in the works to bring Pretty Woman to the stage.
In fact, NY Post says Pretty Woman director Garry marshall and producer Paula Wagner are meeting with composers, lyricists and directors, "all of whom are vying to bring 'Pretty Woman' to the stage." The site goes on to note that J.F. Lawton, who wrote the screenplay for the 1990 hit film, is on board to write the script and he'll be involved in how the whole production comes together. EW says that Marshall would co-write the book alongside Lawton.
The Post notes the very loose resemblance to My Fair Lady and Pygmalion in the story of Pretty Woman, which -- especially when taking My Fair Lady into account -- could lend itself really well to a musical format. The story centers on a Hollywood prostitute named Vivian (Julia Roberts) who meets a wealthy but emotionally closed-off businessman (Richard Gere). The two strike up a deal wherein she'll be his beck-and-call girl while he's in town, and he'll pay her a pile of cash in return. In the brief time they spend together, they fall in love. Stripped to its core, it's a story about a rich guy who falls in love with a prostitute, but factoring in Vivian's efforts to present herself as a woman who might fit in among Edward's stuffy crowd, and Edward's willingness to open himself up to love, it works as a romance. The film helped launch Julia Roberts to mega-stardom, and it remains a popular love story, so why shouldn't it become a musical?
Pretty Woman certainly wouldn't be the first film to make its way to the Broadway stage. Stage adaptations of movies from Rocky to Bring it On have been done or are planned (in the case of Frozen). Given the choice between a remake or sequel to capitalize on the popularity of a film and a stage production of the original, I'd choose the latter in most cases. Some things are better left to the screen. (I mean, RoboCop the musical could work, but I'd rather see a sequel.) With the right songwriters on board and hopefully a really catchy soundtrack, a stage musical could really breathe new life into Pretty Woman. Of course, if it's as big a hit as the original film, we'd eventually want that movie adaptation, but that's definitely thinking down the line. In the meantime, we'll have to wait and see if this project actually makes it to the stage.
