Samantha Barks to be Broadway's Pretty Woman

The musical will have a five week run in Chicago before it heads to Broadway

Actress Samantha Barks is to play the Julia Roberts role in a Pretty Woman musical on Broadway.

The actress, from the Isle of Man, found fame on BBC One's 2008 talent show I'd Do Anything and starred in the 2012 Les Miserables film.

She will star opposite Tony and Grammy award winner Steve Kazee in the stage version of the classic 1990 movie.

The show will have original music by Bryan Adams and will begin performances on Broadway next autumn.

Julia Roberts won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar for her role in the hit film, which has been ranked as the highest-grossing romantic comedy of all time.

She played Vivian, a prostitute hired by businessman Edward, played by Richard Gere, to be his escort for a week in LA.

'Heart, humour, warmth and joy'

Producer Paula Wagner said the show "will have the heart, humour, warmth and joy of the film".

She said director Jerry Mitchell and choreographer had "expanded the narrative and storytelling" of the movie.

She added: "We found two amazing, charismatic actors with incredible chemistry to play Vivian and Edward - the gorgeous triple-threat Samantha Barks, and one of Broadway's most dashing and talented leading men, Steve Kazee."

Kazee won a Tony Award for his role in Once on Broadway in 2012.

Garry Marshall, who directed the original film, worked on the script for the musical before he died in 2016.

Jerry Mitchell said: "I got to work with Garry for over a year on this musical adaptation and experienced first hand his sense of humour, his joy, his uplifting attitude in life, and mostly his love for these characters.

"I want that to infuse what I am doing with Pretty Woman as he is the true heart of this story."

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