‘Pretty Woman’ musical coming to Scranton Cultural Center

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Fans of the 1990 movie “Pretty Woman” will remember how Vivian extends a gloved hand toward a jewelry box to touch the ruby necklace that Edward is holding out to her.

The necklace looks like a perfect accent to the red gown she’s wearing — and when Edward snaps the box shut on her hand, that perfectly playful moment shows the couple is growing close enough to kid around.

“That’s one of my favorite scenes,” said actor Chase Wolfe, who portrays Edward in a touring show that Broadway in Scranton will bring to the Scranton Cultural Center May 17-19. “She goes to reach for the necklace and almost gets caught in the box. I always do it a little different each time so Ellie (Baker, who plays Vivian) will be surprised.”

The musical is based on the movie that starred Julia Roberts and Richard Gere and, Wolfe said, at heart it’s simply a boy-meets-girl story.

Any references that Vivian is a high-priced escort and Edward is an all-business tycoon who hires her are “kind of tastefully done,” Wolfe said in a telephone interview. “As you’re watching the show you forget about that. It’s just about two people falling in love.”

“At the start of the show (Edward is) kind of a shark, a business tycoon who just wants to make a deal and get on to the next project,” Wolfe said. “He hires Vivian mainly as a distraction,” to be at his side as he tries to make a deal to acquire a company.

“He doesn’t know love in the way she knows it; he doesn’t understand what it means to truly love someone … She shows him he can still be business-minded but have fun. That opens his world to the possibility of becoming something he’s lost, through the death of his mother and his anger at his father. We get past that.”

Vivian, a character Wolfe describes as “quirky and fun … so strong and independent; she takes life by the horns and gets what she wants,” agrees to spend a week with Edward for $3,000. She uses his credit card to shop on Rodeo Drive, she learns to dance from the hotel manager who “plays fairy godfather in a way,” and she starts to appreciate this new man in her life.

Of course, there will be an argument Vivian and Edward will have to overcome if they’re going to have a chance at happily ever after. And, Wolfe said, that’s just what the audience will be rooting for.

“I’ve had friends come to see this show and they told me, ‘By the end I was yelling, Dude, don’t let her go. You have to be together.’ I think if my friends had that reaction, so will other audience members.”

“Through the whole show (Edward and Vivian) show they love each other without saying they love each other,” the actor said. “It’s really beautiful.”

And, yes, you will hear the song that Roy Orbison made famous during the show. “The cast sings it,” Wolfe said, adding he always tells people to just come to the production and see where and how the song “Pretty Woman” is used.

The creative team for “Pretty Woman” is led by Tony Award-winning director and choreographer Jerry Mitchell (“Hairspray,” “Kinky Boots,” “Legally Blonde”) and, Wolfe said, “we’ve got lots of lights, color, music that sounds like 80s-90s rock, and a great cast.”

The production is recommended for age 12 and older.

Show times are 7:30 p.m. May 17; 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. May 18 and 1 p.m. May 19.