Pretty Woman the Musical, starring Amber Davies as Vivian and Oliver Savile as Edward, comes to the New Victoria Theatre in Woking next month.

The show, which will run from Monday, November 27 until Saturday, December 2, is Hollywood’s ultimate rom-com, live on stage.

Once upon a time in the late 1980s, Vivian met Edward and her life changed forever. 

Be swept up in their romance in this dazzlingly theatrical take on a love story for the ages – and get to know these iconic characters in a whole new way in a show guaranteed to lift your spirits and light up your heart.

Pretty Woman: The Musical features original music and lyrics by Grammy Award winner Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, and a book by Garry Marshall and the film’s screenwriter JF Lawton. It is directed and choreographed by the two-time Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell.

Featured in the musical is Roy Orbison and Bill Dee’s international smash hit song Oh, Pretty Woman which inspired one of the most beloved romantic comedy films of all time when it was released in 1990.

Pretty Woman: The Musical had its world premiere at Chicago’s Oriental Theatre in March 2018 before transferring to Broadway.

Based on the smash-hit film that turned Julia Roberts into a superstar, the musical is now embarking on a tour of the UK and Ireland.

And according to his wife Barbara and daughter Kathleen, the director of the film and co-writer of the musical, Garry Marshall, would have been thrilled to learn of its ongoing success.

He passed away in 2016, after working on the production with JF Lawton for many years and dreaming that it might open in New York some day.

“Had someone told him it would such a hit around the world he wouldn’t have believed it,” Barbara smiles proudly. “Not only did it make it to Broadway, it’s bringing joy to so many people in so many other places.”

Kathleen agrees. “As well as being a director my dad was a writer, which he saw as a lonely profession. 

“He always said ‘Once you finish writing something you just have to bask in it because you’re going to be back in the room writing again soon’. So he would be just basking in the excitement that the show is doing so well.”

New York-born Marshall studied journalism and in the late 1950s landed a job writing gags for Rat Pack funnyman Joey Bishop. 

He broke into TV on the writing staff of The Tonight Show before adapting Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple for the small screen.

An even bigger breakthrough came when he created Happy Days in 1974, followed by spin-offs Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy.

He went on to direct such feature films as Overboard and Beaches before Pretty Woman gave him the biggest hit of his career.

Barbara adds: “I think everybody remembers that movie as a happy moment or it helped them with something in their life.

“Now people come to this musical wearing the clothes, like the famous red dress or the trench coat with the same Julia outfit underneath, in the high boots and blonde wigs.”

And, as Kathleen points out, it’s not just for female audiences. “They bring their husbands and boyfriends, who then end up really enjoying it too.

“There’s a lot there in the storytelling that’s really beautiful and romantic and uplifting, and I think everyone can connect to that.”