Waitress officially turns 10 this year, as the touring production dances itself through the UK. The musical is based on Adrienne Shelly’s movie of the same name and includes music written by Sarah Bareilles and book by Jessie Nelson. This rendition of Waitress celebrates the authentic movie and Broadway musical that got it to become such a beloved classic. The entire show is baked with charm, charisma, and dashes of love.
This particular production came from a largely American creative team, restaged by Abbey O’Brien and directed by Diane Paulus. The costume design by Suttirat Ann Larlarb was beautiful. The colors, textures and shaping of each outfit was a true standout in the piece. Scott Pask designed the set, which truly transformed the piece. Ken Billington provided a gorgeous lighting design that had me transfixed. Additionally, the choreography to use real baking ingredients, liquids, flour, and sugar blew me away. I loved that the show was unafraid of messiness and allowed its artists to play around with physical objects.
It is very easy to understand why this musical is so well-loved and why this production has been so successful. For a large majority of this production, I felt like a young girl seeing her first musical. The pacing of music was brilliant, and Sarah Bareilles’ music is truly the standout of this show.
I was left slightly disappointed with the script and felt a large portion of the narrative still felt underdeveloped by the end. Within this rendition, there were recurring flashbacks to Jenna and her mother but little exploration of this relationship in the script itself. I think due to a mixture of direction and an underwritten script, there was a very noticeable lack of emotional intensity.
Waitress lends itself easily to overly camp fixtures but this became overly distracting at several points. The ensemble was a rotating cast, offering pies, changing scenes and adding movement into scenes. Some of the intentional movement sequences between scenes felt forced and the movement as an ensemble felt clunky.
I think one of the hardest missions with restaging a well-known production is honoring the original script and intentions, making fans happy with any reinterpretations and adding something new to your retelling. For me, this story felt like it leaned quite heavily into audience satisfaction instead of battling some of the inherent stereotypes in the original script.
Looking at Ogie and Dawn’s relationship, I felt like they picked a very safe option that could potentially isolate certain groups. I think making the choice to present a character with strong characteristics often associated with autism as an ‘odd’ or ‘weird’ individual is overdone and very easy. I felt this rendition readily leaned into traditional stereotypes of groups, the ‘loud’ Latina, the ‘sassy’ Black woman, the ‘crazy’ southern woman, or the ‘weird’ autistic person. I felt these comedic stereotypes held back the show from emotional moments, almost flattening certain scenes. Additionally, I think it was a shame to add a section about Dawn taking off her glasses and finally calling herself almost pretty. I think small moments like this can undermine the overall message of femininity and female empowerment through friendship.
The cast was brilliant, with vocal performances smooth as butter. I was blown away by their vocal control in a very athletic performance and their ability to sway between serious moments and comedy. Sandra Marvin as Becky was a brilliant casting choice, and she handled the overt power and control of the role expertly. Evelyn Hoskins delivered a masterclass in comedic performances as Dawn. Dan Partridge played a loveably charming American doctor, capturing some of the mannerisms flawlessly. One of my favorite moments was Partridge almost breaking character at the end of act II as the audience exploded with laughter at a young child talking in the stalls. Carrie Hope Fletcher delivered a performance at the highest caliber, truly transporting audiences.
I was blown away by the comedic delivery of the cast, particularly with the intense sex scenes at the start of the second act. These moments were particularly engaging because the show balanced itself out exceptionally well with the themes of abuse, which were dark and disturbing without being overbearing. I wanted a deeper emotional evaluation and reaction from the characters outside of these moments but was still impressed overall.
In terms of general directing, I felt the pacing in between scenes would be benefited by leaning into quiet moments. One particular moment was with Jenna delivering an emotional solo to an audience but with three ensemble members joining the stage midway through to move the set. It completely took me out of the moment. I feel lots of productions benefit from slowing down, not forcing audiences to see the next moment but to sit in the one we already have.
I would recommend this production to any Waitress or musical theatre fan. It is very rare for me to be brought to tears several times in one production, however, the music is expertly crafted to demand these emotional reactions. I felt the core cast exceeded every expectation I had for them – the waitress trio of Jenna, Becky and Dawn were almost flawless in their characterisation and understanding of the story. I loved the feminist take in this production, with a major focus on female friendships inherent to the show. If there was any doubt in the beauty of this musical, this production will put it to rest.
Waitress runs at Palace Theatre Manchester until May 30 and tours the UK until October 31, finishing off at Lowry from October 27 to 31. Carrie Hope Fletcher plays Jenna until August 22 with casting for the remaining dates to be announced.
JADAR 