About the work
Pretty Woman – Das Musical is based on the cult film of the same name from 1990. Music and lyrics are by rock legend Bryan Adams and his longtime partner Jim Vallance, the book by director Garry Marshall and screenwriter J. F. Lawton. It premiered on Broadway in 2018; since then it has run internationally, including in German-language productions. It combines the romantic comedy with catchy pop-rock.
Plot
In Los Angeles, the wealthy, cool businessman Edward Lewis hires the high-spirited Vivian Ward, a young woman from Hollywood Boulevard, at first merely as company for a week full of business appointments and social occasions. The arrangement becomes more: between the two, who come from entirely different worlds, real affection grows. Against class differences, mistrust and old wounds, Vivian and Edward must find out whether they have the courage to embrace true love — a modern Cinderella tale with a happy ending.
Cultural significance
Pretty Woman – Das Musical brings one of the most successful love films of all time to the stage and benefits from the appeal of its source. With songs by Bryan Adams, including the ballad "You and I", and the inevitable Roy Orbison classic "Oh, Pretty Woman", it serves the large audience for feel-good musicals. Internationally and in the German-speaking world it is among the popular film adaptations of recent musical history.