Pretty Woman: The Musical is working the streets of Chicago for a pre-Broadway run. The Gary Marshall film Pretty Woman made Julia Roberts a star playing prostitute Vivian Ward. Audiences fell for the love story between her and Richard Gere, who played wealthy businessman Edward Lewis.
Now the musical version is ready for its debut. It stars Samantha Banks as Vivian with Tony Award winner Steve Kazee as Edward.
Grammy winner Bryan Adams is bringing the tunes along with collaborator Jim Vallance, who helped him with his 13th album.
Director/choreographer Jerry Mitchell provides the backbone to the production. His vast experience in shows such as Kinky Boots, On Your Feet and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels has paid off over the years.
Windy City Times: How does it feel to be back in Chicago?
Jerry Mitchell: JM: It feels like home.
WCT: Do you have any free time?
JM:We have Mondays off, but I am pretty much exhausted so I don't do anything, except find a restaurant and have a nice dinner.
WCT: Why do you feel Chicago is a good place to premiere your musicals?
JM:The audiences of Chicago are exposed to a lot of great theater. The audiences are here and they are smart. They know when something is good and something that isn't. For me they are helpful. I listen to the audience. I try to see how they are responding to what is there. It helps me shape it.
I always say that audiences are your final scene partner. The show I start with and leave with five weeks later is a new show. That is why you go out of town, to do that kind of work.
WCT: So a lot of changes are expected?
JM:A lot of changes. With Kinky Boots we added a new song and cut a song. We cut two dances, and we added a dance. The show was good when we started, but we are here to make it better, so we keep working on it.
WCT: Is the musical version of Pretty Woman still set in the '90s?
JM:I call it a timeless fairytale. So maybe… it is not set today. It has the feel of the film.
WCT: How does it work to have multiple jobs on the show of directing and choreographing?
JM:It is easier. You are able to follow your idea through and not have to explain your idea to another person. When the collaboration between the director and choreographer is seamless that is when a musical really clicks. It is easy to be seamless when you are doing both jobs!
WCT: It sounds like a lot of work.
JM:It is, but I have a great support system. My associate director DB Bonds and associate choreographer Rusty Mowery were with me on Kinky Boots. We have a great relationship. I rely on them for a lot of work.
WCT: Is the choreography influenced by things you have seen in the past?
JM:No. We go to the opera so there is an opera sequence.
There is a song called "Never Give Up on a Dream" that is sung by Eric Anderson and Orfeh that has some stuff in it.
The characters Edward and Vivian go to a dinner dance where they meet Mr. Morse. There is a dance in there.
There is some musical staging with Thompson that is fun.
We will see. I am sure I will add more as we keep going. It always has to be organic to the story for me.
WCT: Do you have a favorite song from Pretty Woman?
JM:There's too many. Bryan and Jim have written a spectacular score the first time out, just like Cyndi wrote for Kinky. As pop writers they really nailed it, particularly the love songs, which is what you need in Pretty Woman the Musical.
WCT: Sometimes in musicals the songs move the plot forward. Is this the case?
JM:It is an all-original score. I think original songs written by pop composers have a tendency to have those songs you are talking about. They are emotional and let the character tell you what they are feeling or thinking. I kind of love that.
WCT: Is it tempting to make the lead very Julia Roberts?
JM:No, not at all. I think the score defines her in a new way because it's a musical. We are going to deliver things from the film that everyone will expect and want to see, but we have our own stuff that they will be enchanted with.
WCT: Is there a bathtub scene?
JM:There is a bathtub scene, but she is not singing Prince!
WCT: Is there a gay character?
JM:Well, I am involved in creating it! [Laughs] There is no one that is necessarily gay.
WCT: I thought the Barney Thompson character who helps her might be…
JM:Maybe, but there is no statement about it.
WCT: What has been the most satisfying thing with the success of Kinky Boots?
JM:That the message has gotten to places that needed it even more than we did in America. Remember, when we started the musical there was no gay marriage in the United States.
The message of Kinky Boots to just accept people for who they are, "you can change the world if you change your mind," has gotten to places like Korea, where it is now, and they have no gay voice. It has played Japan where gay culture is very behind the times. It will be going on a national tour all over the UK.
It goes all over America into towns that voted for Trump. They need the message more than anyone.
WCT: What are your thoughts on Jake Shears starring in it now?
JM:I love Jake. He's the sweetest man in the world. He is fabulous in the show.
WCT: What was it like receiving the George Abbott Award for Lifetime Achievement?
JM:That was from my peers of directors and choreographers in the business. It was overwhelming and a great honor. I was actually directed by George Abbott when I was 23. It was for On Your Toes on Broadway and the last musical I did until I did Will Rogers, when I really started focusing on being a choreographer. It was a full circle.
WCT: What is one thing you learned from On Your Feet?
JM:Save the drama. We had the bus crash in the first act and the second act in Chicago. I took it out by the time it left Chicago. It only appears in the second act now. It mattered so much we had to save it. Structure is one thing I learned.
WCT: Would you ever make a J. Lo musical?
JM:I met with her. We were going to do Bye Bye Birdie together for NBC. It was going to be be the next one after Hairspray. It didn't work out with her schedule.
WCT: What are you working on next?
JM:Gotta Dance, which started here, is being named Half Time, so I do that next at the Paper Mill Playhouse.
I am working on a new musical called Becoming Nancy, which is based on a British book about a boy who auditions for the school musical of Oliver!, but is cast as Nancy. He starts to fall in love with the boy cast as Bill Sikes. The teachers and parents react to what is happening in 1979 East Dulwich. It's a beautiful story.
Pretty Woman: The Musical works out the kinks through Sunday, April 15, at the Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St. Look for tickets at BroadwayInChicago.com .