Theater Review: Pretty Woman and the Trouble With Onstage Nostalgia
4 / 10
As you approach the Nederlander Theatre, the marquee flashes a series of bold all-caps phrases: 'BOLD WOMAN - FIERCE WOMAN - FUNNY WOMAN - SMART WOMAN,' and finally, inevitably, the title: Pretty Woman. Inside the theater, posters and T-shirts at the merch stand bear the same messaging. The show's producers have been trying to get out in front of the fact that their material doesn't exactly scream 2018 for a while, now opting for this catechism of empowerment. They needn't have bothered. For one thing, more adjectives are never the solution to a problem. For another, Pretty Woman: The Musical has plenty of problems outside of its politics. If the show were a witty, brilliantly scored, fleet-footed theatrical gem, then it might be worthwhile to attempt a nuanced excavation of the kind of worldview it's espousing beneath the top-notch presentation.
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