Holt High graduate Em Hadick comes home to Wharton for 'Pretty Woman'
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Em Hadick is no stranger to the Wharton Center stages.
Back in the halcyon days of their youth, they performed in high school choirs, school and community shows and they won the Ovation Awards when in high school. But they had another dream about performing on that stage, one that will come true the week of Dec. 13 when the Pretty Woman national tour arrives in East Lansing.
“It was always a dream of mine to get to come back with one of the Broadway national tours that I grew up seeing,” Hadick, a graduate of Holt High School, said. “It feels so special and so full circle to get to come back in this way.”
“Pretty Woman: The Musical” is based on the 1990 movie but with new music and lyrics by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance. The book is by Garry Marshall and J.F. Lawton who directed and wrote the original movie. In it, Edward Lewis, a rich businessman, hires Vivian Ward, a prostitute, to be his escort for several events he must attend.
Hadick has spent the past year on the road with the show as a swing performer—someone who is ready to step in at a moment’s notice to any of several roles. The show’s leading man, Adam Pascal, who plays the part of Edward, says they have saved the show several times by going above and beyond what the swing position is designated as.
“I mean that literally,” Pascal said. “They have stepped up to the plate and played almost every role in the show, sometimes playing more than one role at any given time. Given the COVID situation, people kind of go down and sometimes we’re down a number of people and they always step up. I’m always so amazed by their ability to play all these different characters and play them in very specific and unique ways.”
Their willingness to step up, Pascal said has kept them from having to cancel performances on numerous occasions. He also praised the voice she brings to the production.
“They have an incredible singing voice that goes to the stratosphere of operatic,” Pascal said. “They are the invaluable utility tool of our show.”
Hadick’s role with the show has expanded since they first joined it nearly a year and a half ago. After the first six months, the dance captain and assistant dance captain left. They became the assistant dance captain. Then the replacement dance captain booked the Aladdin tour and Hadick got promoted to dance and fight captain.
In those roles, they teach the choreography to new members of the show as well as watching to make sure things stay the way they’re supposed to according to the vision of the original choreographer.
“The dance captain is in charge of maintaining the integrity of the choreography and some staging,” Hadick explained. “I watch the show and give notes and conduct cleaning rehearsals. Whenever we have a replacement, I am responsible for teaching them the choreography and running the rehearsals where they get put in with the rest of the cast.”
The show has undergone some major changes since its start including this past October with the bringing in of a new Vivian, the lead role. Jessie Davidson replaced Olivia Valli in October after the tour was officially extended.
“I adore Olivia and miss her and wish her well,” Pascal said. “But we’ve got so fortunate in finding Jessie Davidson. She’s very different from Olivia, but has brought in such an incredible energy to the show and a dynamic that has changed things in ways that a year into the tour we desperately needed. It’s enlivened the whole production with this new energy coming from this new person.”
Hadick also praised the way Davidson changed the show’s dynamics. They pointed out that theater is a collaborative art form and every person contributes to creating a unique performance every night.
“People are different,” Hadick said. “It doesn’t mean any one was better or worse, it just means different. Jessie brings a lot of honesty and she sounds so lovely. It’s fun when we get new replacements because it just changes things.”
Pascal plans to stay with the show for its entire run, now scheduled to end in Sacramento in May. With Davidson joining the cast, he’s energized by the changes and ready for the extended time on the road.
“It’s so much fun for me as an actor to form a new dynamic with a new person and a new leading lady,” Pascal said. “You get to explore this story and tell the story in a slightly different way. She brings something completely new and different to the role. For me, it’s been such a shot in the arm that I needed so desperately to infuse the whole production with this new life and it’s been fabulous.”
Pascal characterizes “Pretty Woman” as a Cinderella story in which the Cinderella character is the one who saves her prince. The story appeals to him because his character gets to go on a healthy journey and become a better person.
“I think the audience starts out thinking that he’s going to come along and save her,” Pascal said. “What they realize by the end of the show is that’s actually not what happens at all. She saves him. I’ve spent my life being saved by women, so I’m really appreciative and enjoy the fact that I get to play this character who, like me, is saved by the love of an incredible woman.”
Hadick says they’ve become obsessed with how deeply audiences love the franchise of Pretty Woman. They describe fans who show up dressed in the iconic Vivian costumes. Once there was a group of four women who all dressed in different Vivian dresses. Other times, audience members will finish the lines for actors.
Pretty Woman will play in Wharton’s Cobb Great Hall from Dec. 13 to 18, after which the touring company gets a two-week break before reconvening in Houston on Jan. 3 and spending the winter months in Texas and Florida.
Pascal plans to return to New York to be with his sister and girlfriend and then visit his stepmother in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, Hadick calls it a gift that they get to spend the week before Christmas at home and then linger longer during the break to be with family and friends.
As for the future, they are contracted to be with the tour through at least March. Their next big dream is to be a part of the ongoing Stephen Sondheim renaissance and be able to perform in one of the works of their favorite composer.
If you go
What: Pretty Woman the Musical
When: Dec. 13-18
Where: Cobb Great Hall, Wharton Center
Tickets: From $39
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Holt High graduate Em Hadick comes home to Wharton for 'Pretty Woman'
