Ashley Scott and Bradley Smith set to dazzle in Pretty Woman: The Musical

The singing and dancing talents of Ashley Scott and Bradley Smith will be on full display in the production of Pretty Woman: The Musical, coming to the Artscape Theatre next month.

The production is based on the Pretty Woman blockbuster film in the early 90s, which starred Julia Roberts and Richard Gere.

The stage version, coming to South Africa for the first time, will include a local cast starring Leah Mari as Vivian Ward and Christopher Jaftha as the suave Edward Lewis.  The cast also includes Thuto Lesedi Gaasenwe, Tiaan Rautenbach, and Daniel Conradie, supported by a large ensemble and a six-piece band.

Making up the ensemble is Mr Smith from District Six, who portrays the character of David Morse. “It is like a dream come true to be part of this production, it is Pretty Woman, who doesn’t know that movie?” he said. Mr Smith has recently performed in the Mama Mia musical at the Artscape, as well as taking part in Beauty and the Beast, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat in Johannesburg. 

Mr Smith describes the ensemble as one of the “unspoken leads” of a show. “The ensembles help in creating a whole around the lead characters; they are the background characters, that perhaps do not have any lines, while they sing, dance, and create energy on stage,” he said.

Joining Mr Smith in lighting up the stage with singing and dancing is Ms Scott from Walmer Estate. Ms Scott has been in the performing arts industry for eight years. She performed in productions like Popcorn, and Women on Top at the Kalk Bay theatre, and more recently she performed in big productions at the Artscape, which was Disney’s The Magic Box in 2024, and CHICAGO The Musical that took place last year.

In Pretty Woman: The Musical, she will be taking on the role of a swing. “My role is to track the dance and song routines to be performed by every ensemble, as a stand-in in case any female ensemble is unable to perform,” she said.

She added,  “As a swing, it is lots of preparation, though it is rewarding as we are there to support the ensembles,” she said.  In this production, Ms Scott said she is excited for the opening night, and they have been hard at rehearsing for the past two weeks. “I love opening nights, it will allow us to celebrate our hard work, and I am sure the audience will love this show as it is a classic, everyone knows Pretty Woman,” she said. 

Pretty Woman: The Musical will take place at the Artscape Theatre from Wednesday, March 18, until Sunday, April 19. Due to strong adult themes, this production has a PG rating of 12+.

Tickets are available at showtime.co.za or ticketmaster.co.za