DPAC Ambassadors at Pretty Woman: The Musical

By: Apoorva Jha 

Pretty Woman: The Musical is the story of how a young sex worker named Vivian Ward who begins to “fake-date” a rich buisnessman named Edward Lewis whom she meets on Hollywood Boulevard. What starts out as a flirty night together soon develops into several dates and a growing relationship with each other.

Throughout the performance, Olivia Valli (Vivian) remained strong and consistent throughout her lead vocal parts and brought a stunning, yet rowdy presence to the stage. She had stunning energy throughout all her choreography, and her projection and vocal tone stayed consistent throughout all of her movement. She formed fantastic connections with the other actors which showed up in her presence on stage.

Brent Thiessen (Edward)  did a fantastic job of sticking to a stuck up business man who was only using Vivian to save face. The audience slowly sees the development of his affection towards Vivian and sees this uptight man learn to have fun and let go in life. We can also see Thiessen’s character soften and show more respect towards people around him.

Jessica Crouch (Kit) played a rowdy, silly, and strong headed best friend alongside Vivian while working together on Hollywood Boulevard. She continued to shine with her kind advice, and loud encouragement towards Vivian. The two continue to display their close relationship towards each other through the energy and sisterhood displayed between the two. We see Kit’s development throughout the musical by Kit deciding if Vivian can chase her dreams, so can she. She decides to pursue her long time hope of becoming an officer.

Taylor Parker as The Happy Man and Mr. Thompson continues to have dazzling stage presence as he guides the story along. The Happy Man encourages characters like Vivian and Kit to follow their dreams and stay strong through the midst of adversity. While playing Mr. Thompson, he gives subtle encouragement to Edward to admit his true feelings to Vivian. Overall Parker’s ability to play two characters with opposing energies is captivating and engaging.

Pretty Woman: The Musical brings up real world issues such as harrassment and oppression against sex workers while also bringing up emotional conflicts people face such as falling in love, and the constant fight between doing your job and being a good person. Pretty Woman executes this with honesty, truth, and comedy, making this a musical worth watching.