Molly Rainford will play Vivian Ward in her first stage role when Pretty Woman: The Musical sets out on a new UK tour next spring, with Danny Walters opposite her as Edward Lewis and Bernadette Bangura as Kit De Luca.
Molly Rainford, known to television audiences as Anna Knight in EastEnders and as the title character of CBBC's Nova Jones, makes her stage debut as Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman: The Musical. The tour opens at the New Wimbledon Theatre on Wednesday 10 March 2027 and takes in 19 venues across England, Scotland and Wales before it finishes in Aberdeen in October.
Rainford reached the final of Britain's Got Talent in 2012 and of Strictly Come Dancing in 2022, and more recently took part in Celebrity Race Across the World with her partner, Tyler West.
Opposite her as Edward Lewis is Danny Walters, another EastEnders name, whose Keanu Taylor brought him the National Television Award for Best Newcomer, the Radio Times Soap Award for Best Exit and an International Achievement Recognition Award for Best Young Actor. His other screen work includes Tiger Dyke in ITV's Benidorm, Call the Midwife and the BAFTA-nominated BBC miniseries Our World War, and on stage he has appeared in The Greater Game at Southwark Playhouse and Spring Awakening at the Brighton Pavilion.
Bernadette Bangura, who recently played Becky on the UK and Ireland tour of Waitress, takes the role of Kit De Luca. Her stage credits include Moulin Rouge! The Musical at the Piccadilly Theatre, Once On This Island at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, My Fair Lady at the London Coliseum and on tour, and Jesus Christ Superstar at the Barbican, as well as UK tours of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Hairspray and Sunset Boulevard.
The rest of the company so far is Selena Barron, Jabari Braham, Jack Campbell, Cletus Chan, Josh Crowther, Sophie Cullen, Benjamin Dawson, Sian Gentle Green, Rebecca Ibbott, Kai Cameron Jay, Callum Martin, Brogan McFarlane, LJ Neilson, Matthew Prime, Alana M Robinson, Roshaan Saulnier, Morgan Scott, Ellie Seaton, Sario Solomon, Tomas Wolstenholme and Tara Yasmin, with more casting to follow.
Jerry Mitchell, a two-time Tony Award winner whose credits include Kinky Boots, Legally Blonde and Hairspray, directs and choreographs, and Dominic Shaw recreates his direction for the tour. The songs are by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, the writers of Summer of '69 and Heaven, and the book comes from Garry Marshall, who directed the 1990 film, and its screenwriter, J.F. Lawton. The score also finds room for Oh, Pretty Woman, the Roy Orbison and Bill Dees hit that inspired the film.
Sets are by David Rockwell and costumes by Tom Rogers, based on Gregg Barnes's original Broadway designs. Kenneth Posner and Philip S. Rosenberg light the show, John Shivers designs the sound and Josh Marquette the hair, while Will Van Dyke handles music supervision, arrangements and orchestrations. The producers are ATG Productions, Paula Wagner, Nice Productions, LPO, New Regency Productions and Gavin Kalin Productions.
The musical began at the Oriental Theatre in Chicago in March 2018, then played Broadway's Nederlander Theatre, opened in Hamburg at the Stage Theater an der Elbe in September 2019 and launched a US tour in October 2021. Its London life started at the Piccadilly Theatre on 13 February 2020, when the original West End company opened the run; it moved to the Savoy Theatre from 8 July 2021 and closed there on 18 June 2023, ahead of a first UK and Ireland tour from October 2023.
The full tour schedule:
- 10-20 March 2027: New Wimbledon Theatre, London
- 23 March - 3 April 2027: Palace Theatre, Manchester
- 6-17 April 2027: Milton Keynes Theatre, Milton Keynes
- 20 April - 1 May 2027: Grand Opera House, York
- 4-15 May 2027: The Alexandra, Birmingham
- 18-29 May 2027: King's Theatre, Glasgow
- 1-5 June 2027: Edinburgh Playhouse, Edinburgh
- 8-12 June 2027: Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff
- 29 June - 3 July 2027: Sunderland Empire, Sunderland
- 6-10 July 2027: Mayflower Theatre, Southampton
- 13-17 July 2027: Hull New Theatre, Hull
- 20-24 July 2027: Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent
- 27-31 July 2027: Leeds Grand Theatre, Leeds
- 10-14 August 2027: New Theatre, Oxford
- 17-28 August 2027: Bristol Hippodrome, Bristol
- 31 August - 11 September 2027: Liverpool Empire, Liverpool
- 21 September - 2 October 2027: Theatre Royal, Nottingham
- 5-9 October 2027: New Victoria Theatre, Woking
- 12-16 October 2027: His Majesty's Theatre, Aberdeen
Keep an eye on the Pretty Woman: The Musical page for tickets to the opening run at the New Wimbledon Theatre.
