Following in Julia Roberts' footsteps is no easy task. Speak to Ellie Baker, a young American who landed her first professional contract playing the title role in the musical Pretty Woman. “The pressure is unreal,” she breathes.
The character of Vivian Ward captured the imagination thanks to the film “Pretty Woman,” which came out almost 25 years ago. It was also this project that catapulted Julia Roberts' star to the highest heavens in Hollywood, from where she never returned.
Ellie Baker knows this very well. Certainly the 26-year-old young woman did not experience the excitement that the film caused when it was released. However, this does not mean that it is alien to the magnitude of the phenomenon.
Photo courtesy of Matthew Murphy
“My mom is a big Julia Roberts fan, so I watched the movie a lot! “But I wanted to put it out of my mind as much as possible before I started working on Pretty Woman,” she says.
Why then?
“The biggest danger in this project is Julia Roberts playing a character on stage. I'm not Julia Roberts and what she did in the film is absolutely iconic. “So I have to find a way to become Vivian Ward myself and offer my version of the character,” the singer said in an interview with the Journal from Boston.
The Pretty Woman troupe performs there this week before traveling to Montreal, where the show is scheduled to begin Tuesday.
Photo courtesy of Matthew Murphy
A classic reinterpreted
We will therefore review the main threads of Gerry Marshall's film, in which the life of a young penniless prostitute is turned into a fairy tale when a rich businessman falls in love with her. But this story was passed through the prism of Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance to make it a proper musical comedy.
Certain scenes have also been adjusted, sometimes to better stage them, sometimes to update their content and purpose.
And the result represents the best of both worlds, according to Ellie Baker.
“People like to hear stories they already know, but they also like to discover them in a different light; “We see it when a novel is adapted for the cinema and readers immediately want to see it,” she says.
“In the case of Pretty Woman, the narrative is taken to another level with the music and songs; “Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance were able to capture the essence of the film with timeless rock melodies,” she continues.
Because yes, the story of Pretty Woman remains timeless and will still resonate just as much in 2024 as it did back then.
“Pretty Woman is, at its core, the story of a woman who emancipates herself and finds her way and her strength despite the judgment of others. And that will never stop being relevant,” emphasizes Ellie Baker.
- The musical Pretty Woman will be performed March 5-10 at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier at Place des Arts in Montreal. The performances take place in English.