vivian + edward 4ever

Rom-com classic Pretty Woman walkin' down the street to Austin in new musical adaptation

Pretty Woman: The Musicalwill run January 17–22, 2023 at Bass Concert Hall.

Pretty Woman The Musical/Facebook

Cheery and breezy, Pretty Woman has endured as one of Hollywood’s most beloved rom-coms thanks to a perfectly charming performance by Julia Roberts and Richard Gere’s detached, and finally open, demeanor.

Now, fans of the 1990 film can catch the popular stage show based on the classic when it hits Austin next year. Pretty Woman: The Musicalwill run January 17–22, 2023 at Bass Concert Hall on campus at the University of Texas at Austin.

Tickets for the acclaimed show, which is in the midst of a nationwide tour, start at $30 and go on sale Friday, October 14, at 10 am.

Pretty Woman: The Musical boasts serious heavyweights, with a book by the film’s legendary director Garry Marshall and its noted screenwriter J. F. Lawton. Grammy-winning pop star Bryan Adams (“Cuts Like a Knife,” “Summer of ’69”, “Everything I Do”) and Jim Vallance provide the score, while the industry veteran Paula Wagner produces. Two-time Tony Award-winning director and choreographer Jerry Mitchell serves as director. Adam Pascal and Jessie Davidson star as Edward Lewis and Vivian Ward, respectively.

Super fans will note that the stage show’s costumes are acutely on-point, from Vivian’s revealing getup to her famous ballroom gown and expensive diamond necklace.

And speaking of fans: Expect a rousing rendition of Roy Orbison’s smash hit song “Oh, Pretty Woman,” which inspired the iconic movie, and might just inspire an audience singalong moment.

Get Mesmerized

Buzzy art collective Mesmerize opens new immersive space in Austin

A woman walks up the exhibit's rainbow stairway to the clouds.

Photo courtesy of Mesmerize.

Living Dream features over 14 interactive, psychedelic art installations, like this dreamlike stairway to the clouds.

On November 13, a new immersive art experience in South Austin officially opened its trippy, dream-like doors. It's by Mesmerize, the team that operated a similar and hugely popular exhibit from 2020-2021 at the now-closed Native Hostel on 5th Street.

Living Dream is a series of mazes and more than 14 installations created by local artists. Guests can move through, interact with, and of course, take psychedelic photos with the space. It's sort of like Meow Wolf, but smaller and with a different storyline and theme.

In Living Dream, the story is that this regular, rather plain-looking warehouse facility in South Austin has been fractured by a strange force of nature: the eight-foot-tall Colossal Crystal. Now lines between ordinary Austin life and fantasy are blurred, and Austinites are welcome to explore it.

See on Instagram

Aside from this crystal centerpiece, other art installations include a dreamy, rainbow mural that you can step inside by artist Inne Aguilar; a projection-mapped room featuring Bill Tavis's signature psychedelic painting style; a tufted hidden crawlspace by Hannah Buserkus; the nightmarish but whimsical "Mulligrub Meadow" by artist Liza Fishbone; and a rainbow stairway to the clouds.

Of course it wouldn't feel right to walk through such a dreamy space in utter silence, so the creators brought in musicians like Alex Scott, A.M. Architect, Austin Ray, Andrea Magee, and many more to create an original score for the experience.

Mesmerize Living Dream Mesmerize shared this photo thanking Inne Aguilar for her work.Mesmerize/Instagram

This multi-sensory and family-friendly adventure may be one of Mesmerize's most in-depth. It operated its Native Hostel exhibit, This Is Mesmerize, for nine months, and racked up countless Instagram posts. The exhibit closed in 2021, about two years before Native Hostel closed. Mesmerize has also collaborated with various artists and and collectives over the years to throw some of the trippiest art parties in town.

Living Dream by Mesmerize is located at 820 Shelby Ln., and is open Wednesdays through Fridays from 3 pm to 11 pm, and Saturdays and Sundays from 11 am to 11 pm.

interactive exhibits immersive