Daily Mail, Tuesday, March 3, 2020 QQQ Page Pretty Woman was the rom-
com about the call-girl and
wealthy businessman that
launched Julia roberts oppo-
site richard Gere in 1990.
Now it’s a musical in which rel-
ative newcomers Aimie Atkin-
son and Danny Mac not only
have to fill those shoes but also
handle Bryan Adams’s blazing
rock score.
How did they do? Well, pretty
decent, thanks partly to a generous
audience – 80 per cent comprising
women of a certain age – willing them
over the line.
Miss Atkinson came to attention in
the Henry VIII musical Six (she
played Catherine Howard) but here
she keeps her head and secures her
marriage to the film’s millionaire,
who’s been adjusted in line with infla-
tion to become a billionaire.
Working her way through the outfits
from tiny skirt with thigh-length faux-
leather boots to fine black lace and
that famous red frock, I can’t say she
melted my heart as ‘sex worker’ Viv-
ian. Nor is she any more credible a
street hooker than Miss roberts.
But this is more fairy tale than gritty
realism and Atkinson is a sweet, girl-
next-door performer who holds her
own against Adams’s squealing guitar
solos. Like the show itself, she warms
up in the second half with an
anguished this Is My Life and then a
tina turner-ish outpouring with I
Can’t Go Back (after getting a taste
of the high life).
even so, let’s not pretend this isn’t a
gleeful hymn to wealth and status
and there will be those (like me) who
find it too schmaltzy. Mac is probablybest known for his tV appearances in
Hollyoaks and Strictly Come Dancing
(he was a finalist in 2016).
His looks place him somewhere
between Gere and Pierce Brosnan.
He’s the supposedly stone-hearted
capitalist redeemed by love and I
wouldn’t normally be interested in
the rich emotional life of the disgust-
ingly handsome.
But in Mac’s case I was prepared to
make an exception. Where his envia-
bly toned torso wins a raucous cheer,
he also sings like a choirboy.
the toughest challenge for Jerry
Mitchell’s production though is to
lend passion to a story that’s haunted
by the shadow of cold commercial
transaction. In pursuit of energy, the
stage gets a little too congested at
times, with wheeling dancers, war-
bling opera singers and our besotted
lovebirds jostling for space during the
trip to La traviata in San Francisco.
B u t A d a m s k e e p s t h e s h o w
grounded, his trademark wailing
anthems interspersed with gentler
acoustic numbers.
For me, what really rescues a poten-
tially icky yarn about love hopping
into bed with money is Bob Harms’sshow- stealing turn as the slap -
headed, goateed narrator who’s a
cross between Harry Hill and robert
De Niro. He first appears as a winking
pimp and goes on to become a play-
ful, ballroom dancing hotel manager.
Fans can rest assured that the show
follows the film faithfully. And
although it’s sunny without being
dazzling, in the end it delivers what
we all want most: a sing-along to roy
Orbison’s title song.
So, even if queues for the ladies’
loos looked knee -knittingly long
to me, I foresee great business with
hen parties.Patrick
Marmion
PREtty woMan
Piccadilly Theatre, London
★★★✩✩first night review
And they went: “No, we want your
money or your life.” Sometimes
they dig trenches, pour oil in and
set fire to it, then come with guns
and take your wallets.’
Miss Lumley added: ‘I’m not an
afraid kind of person. If you look
timid, people and animals pick it
up very fast.
‘In Haiti, people are so poor,
but if you say, “Bonjour,” and put
your hand out, you’ve made
friends immediately.’ the inci-dent is not shown in the pro-
gramme but Miss Lumley, who
has filmed several travel docu-
mentaries, said that was not the
only drama involved in the film-
ing of the series.
She said the crew arrived in the
Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince
‘on the day of a riot, so we had to
have a police escort to the hotel’.
‘riots break out like wildfires
across the country and if you’re
in that place, you’re stuck. It’s a
completely broken country. It’s
totally lawless. you wouldn’t
leave your hotel at night there.’
An ItV spokesman said: ‘A full
risk assessment was carried out
before filming in Haiti and
Joanna was accompanied by the
appropriate level of security.’
the series sees Miss Lumley
travel across two of the most
enigmatic countries in the Car-
ibbean – Cuba and Haiti – to
explore hidden gems. She kicks
off the journey in a classic car in
Havana, before embarking on
the 1,500-mile trip which is shown
in two 60-minute episodes.J OA N N A L u m l e y w a s
threatened by armed ban-
dits while filming a travel
series in Haiti.
they ambushed the 73-year-
old actress while she was driv-
ing through a mountain range
with her camera crew.
the gun-wielding gang told
Miss Lumley and her team that
they would kill them if they did
not hand over their cash.
But two of the Absolutely Fab-
ulous star’s bodyguards stepped
in and she escaped unscathed.
She said the incident had not
deterred her from continuing to
film the two-part documentary
s e r i e s , H i d d e n C a r i b b e a n :
Havana to Haiti, which begins
on ItV next Monday.
Miss Lumley said: ‘Suddenly
there was a blockage across the
road. they’d put branches down.
Luckily, we had two big body-
guards who got out and said:
“Come on guys, clear this away”.Big shoes to
fill: Aimie
Atkinson as
call-girl
VivianLady in red: With Danny Mac
Picture: HELEN MAYBANKS
Great business for hen parties! Pretty
Woman struts back... af ter 30 years
Gun bandits in
threat to shoot
Joanna Lumley
By Lizzie Deane
Ambushed: Joanna Lumley