He doesn’t have to convince Vivian, who has dreams from the outset, though she’s not quite sure what they are. Others require more persuasion, including the money-minded Edward and Vivian’s roommate, Kit (the inimitable Orfeh, the cast’s loudest member), a fellow hooker who finally remembers she always wanted to be a cop.
The score’s many, country-tinged power ballads bring to mind B-sides of Top 40 hits from the 1980s, the era in which Mr. Adams became a rock star. And they are often delivered with a straight-to-the-audience, note-holding “American Idol” earnestness. (In her big numbers, Ms. Barks brings to mind Carrie Underwood giving her all on that show.)
Whether the setting is luxurious Beverly Hills or seedy downtown Hollywood, David Rockwell’s set has a kind of “Sesame Street” friendliness, and Kenneth Posner and Phillip S. Rosenberg’s lighting saturates everything in Disney shades of orange and fuchsia. This is true even for the show’s sex (or foreplay) scenes, which find Vivian in a series of cleavage-enhancing bras and slips.
Mostly, Ms. Barks conducts herself like a peppy, tomboyish cutup from a sitcom. She often doesn’t seem entirely at ease, but her discomfort is nothing compared to Mr. Karl’s. This fine musical performer, a knockout in the recent “Groundhog Day,” often looks as if he would rather be anywhere but here, especially when he has to sing internal monologues about how free Vivian makes Edward feel.
“Pretty Woman: The Musical” is already doing big box office, proving that on Broadway you can’t go broke overestimating the popular appeal of clones. But it’s worth noting that at the performance I attended, the number that received the biggest applause wasn’t one of those wistful soliloquies about feelin’ free, or even a high-spirited number about following your dreams.
No, the loudest clapping came when Allison Blackwell, the soprano performing Violetta in “La Traviata,” sang her character’s farewell declaration of love. Something like real passion had finally entered the building.
