Meet Jenna, a waitress and expert pie-maker who dreams of a way out of her small town and rocky marriage. Pouring her heart into her pies, she crafts desserts that mirror her topsy-turvy life such as "The Key (Lime) to Happiness Pie" and "Betrayed By My Eggs Pie." When a baking contest in a nearby county - and a satisfying encounter with someone new - shows Jenna a chance at a fresh start, she must find the courage to seize it. Change is on the menu, as long as Jenna can write her own perfectly personal recipe for happiness.
Brought to life by a groundbreaking, all-female creative team, this Tony Award-nominated hit features original music and lyrics by 6-time Grammy nominee Sara Bareilles ("Love Song," "Brave"), a book by acclaimed screenwriter Jessie Nelson (I Am Sam) and direction by Tony Award winner Diane Paulus (Pippin, Finding Neverland).
"Waitress is a little slice of heaven!" says Entertainment Weekly, and is "sweet, sassy and passionate," according to New York Magazine. Don't miss this uplifting and hilarious musical.
Mueller's is a performance stripped of condescension, lived in the moment and rich in musical pleasures; surely there is no singing actress of Mueller's generation better able to play a woman of low power and self-esteem....In this show she immediately moves her lips whenever Jenna is asked a question - signaling to the audience that Jenna's main problem is that she worries so much about pleasing others that she never has learned how to put her own needs first. Jenna eventually grabs such an opportunity with her comely-but-married gynecologist (played by Drew Gehling), and it is here that the show stutters: Gehling's Dr. Pomatter feels like a sitcom doc rather than a serious love interest for a serious young woman, and thus you don't pull for them as you should. I had the same issue with Nick Cordero's Earl (Jenna's husband), played as a standard-issue man-spreader when the show would be better if you saw deeper into his anger and depression - especially since Bareilles has given him 'You Will Still Be Mine,' one of the most poignant songs in the show.
It's surprising that 'Waitress's' director, the resourceful Diane Paulus, who staged recent Broadway revivals of 'Hair' and 'Pippin,' would not have required the softening of at least one of Earl's monstrous edges, because he's a villain so transparently designed to provoke a specific response that - no disrespect to the highly competent, physically imposing Cordero - the character comes across as an inane contrivance. Some other supporting parts fare far, far better, as with an eccentric suitor for Dawn named Ogie, played to the wonderfully kooky hilt by Christopher Fitzgerald. The number late in Act 1 in which Ogie introduces himself to us, 'Never Ever Getting Rid of Me,' jump-starts the proceedings with its effervescent spirit (and suggests that it might be fun if Ogie and Dawn got a spinoff musical of their own).
2015 | Boston |
American Repertory Theater World Premiere Production Boston |
2016 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
2017 | US Tour |
First National Tour US Tour |
2019 | West End |
Original West End Production West End |
2021 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
2021 | US Tour |
US Tour |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Musical | Jessie Mueller |
2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Book of a Musical | Jessie Nelson |
2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical | Christopher Fitzgerald |
2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lyrics | Sara Bareilles |
2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Music | Sara Bareilles |
2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Musical | Waitress |
2016 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Jessie Meuller |
2016 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical | Waitress |
2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Musical | Jessie Mueller |
2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical | Christopher Fitzgerald |
2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Musical | Waitress |
2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Score (Broadway or off-Broadway) | Sara Bareilles |
2016 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Waitress |
2016 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical | Christopher Fitzgerald |
2016 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical | Jessie Mueller |
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