Samantha Barks & Steve Kazee to Headline Broadway-Bound Pretty Woman: The Musical

Broadway’s upcoming Pretty Woman: The Musical has found its stars. Tony winner Steve Kazee (Once) is taking on the role of Edward Lewis in the new show, with Les Misérables film star Samantha Barks playing the prostitute who wins his heart, Vivian Ward. The roles were, of course, made famous by Richard Gere and Julia Roberts in the smash 1990 film. Before hitting Broadway in the fall of 2018, Pretty Woman: The Musical will play a five-week run at Chicago's Oriental Theatre starting on March 13, 2018.

Barks played Eponine in the 2012 big screen adaptation of Les Miz, a role she first played in the West End as well as in the 25th Anniversary Concert of the well-loved musical at The O2. She first made a name for herself as a contestant on the U.K. reality show I’d Do Anything, competing to play Nancy in Oliver!, a part she wound up playing on a tour with the show. She played Velma Kelly in Chicago at the Hollywood Bowl in 2014, the leading role in Amélie at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Cathy in The Last Five Years at the St. James Theatre in London and, most recently, Betsy in the U.K. premiere of Honeymoon in Vegas at the London Palladium. Pretty Woman will mark Barks' Broadway debut.

Kazee won a 2012 Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for originating the role of Guy in Once, as well as a Grammy Award for lending vocals to the original cast recording. The former Broadway.com vlogger's other Great White Way credits include playing Bill Starbuck opposite Audra McDonald in 110 in the Shade, Sir Lancelot in Spamalot and roles in the plays To Be or Not To Be and Seascape. He’s recently focused on appearing on TV shows like Legends, Shameless and Nashville.

Two-time Tony winner Jerry Mitchell (Kinky Boots) is directing and choreographing the Broadway-bound musical, which features a score by chart-topping rocker Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance and a book by the film's screenwriter J.F. Lawton and late director Garry Marshall.

Pretty Woman: The Musical will feature sets by David Rockwell, costumes by Gregg Barnes, lighting by Kenneth Posner and Philip S. Rosenberg, sound design by John Shivers, hair design by Josh Marquette and music supervision, with arrangements and orchestrations by Will Van Dyke.​

Pretty Woman: The Musical will open on Broadway in the fall of 2018 at a Nederlander Theatre to be announced.