Last Spring, Garry Marshall told Vanity Fair that he would be in “a home for old directors” by the time “Pretty Woman,” the musical stage adaptation of his 1990 movie smash, arrived on Broadway. In fact, the legendary writer-director, who died last July, will never see the show. But he lived long enough to put in place a first-class creative team, led by producer Paula Wagner, which is fully capable of turning it into a posthumous tribute to him. Last May, Marshall announced that Tony-winner Jerry Mitchell (“Hairspray,” “Kinky Boots”) would direct and choreograph the musical, with songs to be written by Jim Vallance and recording artist Bryan Adams. Before he died, the director had been busy co-writing the libretto with J.F. Lawton, who wrote the original screenplay under the title “3,000.” That was a reference to the amount of money which corporate raider Edward Lewis, played by Richard Gere in the film, offers to street hooker Vivian Ward, the role that catapulted Julia Roberts to superstardom. The week that Vivian spends with Edward leads to a life-changing, fairytale romance. The rights to turn the film into a stage musical, controlled by Lawton and Disney, were highly sought by a number of producers before being awarded to Wagner. It’s not hard to see why it was such a hot property. The story of “Pretty Woman,” about a handsome businessman who falls for a fallen woman, contains several aspects that would point to a successful musical: a modern-day Svengali-Galatea fable mixed with elements of Cinderella. But the creators have quite a challenge on two counts: to flesh out what is a fairly thin, high-concept narrative; and to bring something original to an immensely successful film with an unforgettable star turn. Many hit films given the musical treatment — such as “Ghost,” “Lord of the Rings,” and “9 to 5” — have foundered because they have not provided compelling reasons to revisit the material at Broadway prices. This often happens if the original screenwriter is involved in the adaptation, since there is a temptation to stay too loyal to what worked in the movie. Marshall seemed aware of the necessity to deepen — and perhaps even darken — the characters of Edward and Vivian for Broadway. He told Vanity Fair that while the musical was going to be “peppy” because of Mitchell’s kinetic style, he also saw it as an opportunity to amplify his protagonists. “I always felt that creatively I didn’t do justice to Richard Gere’s character…. We wanted to get more into his background and what his relationship with his father was like.” He also noted that he wanted to make sure that Vivian was not seen as a victim in any way. “I don’t like women to be victims,” he added. “It’s time we stopped that.”Prior to Marshall’s death, the musical was aiming to be on Broadway by the spring or fall of 2017. No doubt, there will be any number of actors put forward for the lead roles. But one would think that Laura Benanti, the funny, sexy, and protean Tony-winning actor (“Gypsy,” “She Loves Me”) would be on everybody’s short list to play Vivian.
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