Why Pretty Woman Coming to Stoke is a Pretty Big Deal

From Broadway to Stoke, smash hit musical Pretty Woman does six nights at the Regent Theatre – and helps put Hanley on the map in the process

Released a year after genre-defining romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally (1989), Pretty Woman catapulted Julia Roberts to stardom as loveable, straight talking Hollywood escort Vivian, who is hired by emotionally detached workaholic Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) to attend some business functions with him in LA. After the usual misunderstandings and plot twists, the two fall in love. 

Fastforward almost 30 years and this classic rom com became a musical. Following a record-breaking run on Broadway in 2018, it embarked on a US-wide tour, then shows in Germany and now the UK. Directed by two-time Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell (Kinky Boots, Legally Blonde, Hairspray), the production stays true to the movie, with Rebekah capturing Vivian’s directness and vulnerability (and rocking that famous peroxide blond wig and patent leather knee-high boots), while Oliver Savile puts in a convincing performance as the uptight, yet vulnerable, Edward. The show is soundtracked by an upbeat rock score from Bryan Adams and his long-term collaborator Jim Vallance.

That such a smash hit has come to the Regent Theatre for six nights is a huge scoop for the city. “Pretty Woman has now become the Regent Theatre’s highest grossing week-long show at the Box Office. More than 11,000 audience members have walked through our doors this week,” confirms the theatre’s Head of Marketing and Communications, Georgia Cooke. 

“Making a huge success out of West End productions at the Regent Theatre will help to put Stoke-on-Trent on the map for big production companies, such as ATG Productions, to tour their incredible shows to our city,” she adds as we chat on the show’s opening night at the theatre’s Piano Bar, where guests are posing for selfies in a Pretty Woman-themed photo frame (me included) against a silver backdrop topped with pink and red balloons.

Securing such a top drawer show underlines the theatre’s importance to Hanley and its continuing development, including arts space/social enterprise the Portland Inn Project, projected to debut in summer 2025, and the extension of the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, with construction scheduled to start next year.

Pretty Woman is far from the only smash hit to grace The Regent’s stage this year, as it will welcome the Only Fools and Horses musical from the West End on 2 December for six nights, with War Horse, based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo and adapted by Stephen Speilberg for the cinema, set to run from 4-8 March, 2025

Cooke says the Regent takes its role as representatives of the city seriously, and they inform touring theatre productions about what’s going on in the city and direct them to tourist attractions such as the World of Wedgwood and other local places of interest. 

In addition to rolling out the red carpet for sell-out musicals, the Regent is keen to reach out to the local community and make theatre more accessible to people of all backgrounds, says theatre director Cheryl Taylor. Through the Theatre Nation Partnerships, a network of arts organisations aiming to strengthen their relationships with local audiences convened by the National Theatre, it enabled nearly 1,000 young people, many of whom had never stepped foot in a theatre before, to watch an adaptation of Neil Galman’s novel, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, which zooms in on the search for self-identity and the disconnect between childhood and adulthood. 

While Taylor admits the New Vic is more readily associated as Stoke’s home of drama, she says diversifying the Regent Theatre’s programme enabled them to develop the audience and introduce them to theatrical works they might not otherwise encounter. 

Ultimately, Cooke feels the Regent is in a great place, as it’s set to welcome more than 250,000 guests through its doors in 2024, with 50,000 of those poised to visit during panto season (Dick Whittington will run from 13 December - 5 January). 

“It’s been a very busy season so far, and we look forward to continuing to strengthen our relationships with local businesses and our stakeholders, and attract the very best in live entertainment to Stoke-on-Trent.”

Helen Dalley
Journalist, avid traveller, indie rock fan. Oatcake of choice: cheese and beans. Excited about Stoke’s future.