Samantha Jade Is Vivian Ward. Pretty Woman: The Musical Opens in Adelaide.

The Big Curious· Chief Editor29 May 2026

There's a moment in Pretty Woman: The Musical — Vivian Ward, barefoot and radiant, tossing her hair back on a Beverly Hills hotel balcony — that audiences across Broadway and the West End have fallen in love with. From 31 May, Adelaide gets its turn.

The smash-hit musical, adapted from the beloved 1990 Touchstone Pictures film, opens at Her Majesty's Theatre for a strictly limited season, and the casting alone is worth the trip.

Samantha Jade Steps Into Vivian's Shoes

It would be hard to imagine a more fitting Australian to take on the role Julia Roberts made iconic. Samantha Jade — X Factor winner, ARIA chart regular, and one of the country's most versatile performers — steps into Vivian Ward with a warmth and charisma that critics have already been clamouring over.

The Courier Mail called it "a burst of Hollywood magic" and praised Jade's "vocals that hit harder than a Rodeo Drive price tag." Others described the production as "joyous, heart-warming, and unapologetically romantic" — which, if we're honest, is exactly what a night at the theatre should feel like.

Jade is no stranger to inhabiting iconic figures. She previously played Kylie Minogue in the TV miniseries INXS: Never Tear Us Apart, has toured alongside One Direction and the Backstreet Boys, and amassed over 91 million streams worldwide. But there's something about Vivian Ward that feels like a natural fit — big-hearted, funny, real.

A Cast Worth Knowing

Opposite Jade is Ben Hall as Edward Lewis — the buttoned-up billionaire made famous on screen by Richard Gere, whose life gets beautifully upended by the woman he least expected. Hall is best known to Australian audiences as Ned Willis from Neighbours and, more recently, for his standout role in the Robbie Williams biopic Better Man. His musical theatre credentials are equally impressive, spanning Les Misérables and Only Heaven Knows.

Michelle Brasier brings the laughs as Kit de Luca, Vivian's wisecracking best friend — a role that steals scenes in every production it touches. And Tim Omaji rounds out the ensemble in the dual role of Happy Man and Mr Thompson.

The Show Behind the Show

The production itself is a thing of genuine craft. The score — a blazing, guitar-driven collection by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance — gives the story an energy that feels entirely its own, distinct from the film's original soundtrack and all the better for it.

Direction and choreography come from Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell, whose fingerprints are on some of Broadway's most beloved productions including Kinky Boots and Hairspray. The book stays true to the original, written by the film's own director Garry Marshall and screenwriter J.F. Lawton.

The show broke box office records at the Nederlander Theatre on Broadway in 2018 and has since played extended seasons in London's West End, a full US national tour, and productions across Spain, Italy, Poland and Germany. Adelaide joins a very distinguished list.