Bryan Adams, Jerry Mitchell, and the PRETTY WOMAN Team Talk How the Broadway-Bound Musical Came About

Rock singer/songwriter Bryan Adams has composed a musical for the first time, and it's all due to an offhand comment made by an actress he was dating years ago, according to Daily Herald. Now, Pretty Woman the Musical is on its way to Broadway.

The musical, composed by Adams and his longtime songwriting partner Jim Vallance, opens in Chicago this week, with a Broadway run beginning this summer.

In 2009 Adams called his agent about his idea for this project, and in 2013 the film's director Garry Marshall and screenwriter J.F. Lawton began working on the stage version. Garry Marshall and Lawton teamed up with producer and former studio head Paula Wagner. The trio brought in Adams and Vallance to write the lyrics and compose the music and Tony Award-winner Jerry Mitchell to direct and choreograph.

"The most important tool is the score," said Mitchell. He put in his two cents with the songwriting duo and by the next morning they had a song produced.

"The past two years have been about making Jerry happy," said Vallance. "If he's thrilled, we're thrilled."

Mitchell joked that the show has changed 12 times since rehearsal started. Vallance and Adams composed 35 songs, and only 23 made the final cut.

"It's not a rock score," said Steve Kazee, the Tony winner who will be playing Edward in the new musical. "It's going to be a theatrical musical piece ... Some songs feel more like traditional Broadway than pop-rock Broadway."

Adams and Vallance are grateful to be working toward this new endeavor.

"I'm 65. I'm looking for new challenges," Vallance said.

"I never think about what I did," replied Adams. "I think about what I'm about to do."

Read more here.

Pretty Woman: THE MUSICAL will star Samantha Barks (Les Miserables) as 'Vivian' opposite Tony Award winner and Grammy Award winner Steve Kazee (Once) as 'Edward,' with Tony Award nominee Orfeh (Legally Blonde) as 'Kit,' Eric Anderson (Waitress) as 'Mr. Thompson,' Jason Danieley (The Full Monty) as 'Philip Stuckey,' and Kingsley Leggs (Sister Act) as 'James Morse' in a company of 24 that includes Allison Blackwell, Tommy Bracco, Brian Calí, Robby Clater, Jessica Crouch, Anna Eilinsfeld, Matt Farcher, Lauren Lim Jackson, Renée Marino, Ellyn Marie Marsh, Jillian Mueller, Jake Odmark, Jennifer Sanchez, Matthew Stocke, Alex Michael Stoll, Alan Wiggins, Jesse McGraw Wildman and Darius Wright.

PRETTY WOMAN: THE MUSICAL has original music and lyrics by Grammy Award winner Bryan Adams and his longtime songwriting partner Jim Vallance, book by Garry Marshall and the film's screenwriter J.F. Lawton, and is directed and choreographed by two-time Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell.

PRETTY WOMAN: THE MUSICAL has scenic design by David Rockwell, costume design by Gregg Barnes, lighting design by Kenneth Posner & Philip S. Rosenberg, sound design by John Shivers, hair design by Josh Marquette, music supervision, arrangements and orchestrations by Will Van Dyke, and casting by Telsey + Company. 101 Productions, Ltd.is the Executive Producer and General Manager.

The world premiere of Pretty Woman: THE MUSICAL at Broadway In Chicago's Oriental Theatre (24 West Randolph Street, Chicago, IL) begins performances Tuesday, March 13, 2018, for a strictly limited five-week engagement. Visit www.BroadwayInChicago.comfor tickets and more information.