Playbill of The Week: Waitress the Musical

14/53

There's something about a piece of pie that unites us all together. It's traditional, a holiday staple, and just plain old delicious. It's a diverse food, you can stuff anything and everything into it, as long as you don't go all Mrs. Lovett. So having a musical that's mascot is basically a pie must be a good idea, right? At the heart of the show, Waitress is about a girl who puts her heart and soul into creating dessert masterpieces, focusing her energy on creative, eclectic, wonderful pieces of pie art. Her pie helps her escape from her real life, which is less than spectacular. Everything goes back to the pie.

This show based on a movie created a lot of buzz when singer/songwriter Sara Bareilles signed on to do the music and lyrics. She released an album called What's Inside: Songs from Waitress, that featured her and a few other artists performing the songs from the show. An interesting idea that got not only Sara's wide fan base, but the Broadway community really interested in the show. Being able to hear almost the entire score before the whole cast is even announced is something not usually done. But it worked because of the style of the show. A lot of the songs play like a track on the radio, with just a little something extra. Everyone fell in love with She Used To Be Mine, one of Jenna's many ballads that's heartbreaking and beautiful, and probably in everyone's book. Sara's gorgeous voice and wide range brought a beautiful quality to the show, and made audience's crave more from her, luckily they got their wish and she's now playing Jenna on Broadway.

This show doesn't only have a female doing the music and lyrics; which is pretty rare, but it also has a female book writer, Jessie Nelson, and a female director, Diane Paulus. Having three women in charge is a rarity in the theatre. An unfortunate truth that we are supposed to except. Hopefully with the three powerhouse women in charge of this production it will force some change into the industry. This show is riddled with insanely talented women that deserve the chance to shine, and I'm glad they get to. Diane Paulus is one of my all time favourite directors. She's so whimsical with her stories. She's in charge of the most recent Tony Award-winning musical revivals of Pippin, The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess and Hair. Do I even need to say anything else? She always has such a brilliant clear vision of what she wants from the show. She brings colour, energy and joy into all of her productions. They're beautiful and truthful. It's a dream of mine to work with her, you hear that Diane?

The original Jenna, almost from conception, is the amazingly talented Jessie Mueller. Unfortunately when I saw Waitress Jessie called out just before curtain so I never got the opportunity to see her. But from what I've seen of her in 'On A Clear Day' and 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood' I know she must have been remarkable. I did have the privilege of seeing Stephanie Torns, who did a great job. Being an understudy has got to be one of the hardest jobs in the show. Being thrown into the leading role with no notice, yes they train and rehearse for it but nothing can prepare you for it. I didn't have anything to compare her performance to since it was my first time seeing it, but she served Jenna well. She was likeable and had a great voice. The role of Jenna is in great hands with its leads and understudies. They all seem to love her deeply.

One of the main reasons I was disappointed in not seeing Jessie, was because I wanted to see her and Drew Gehling back together on the stage. I fell in love with the two of them in On A Clear Day, and was ecstatic to see that they'd be back onstage together. Drew Gehling plays the role of Dr Pomatter, Jenna's doctor who ends up falling for her and her pies. He brings such a fun essence to this role. He's charming, goofy and loveable. It's easy to see why Jenna falls for him. His voice is soothing and comforting, which is exactly the opposite of Jenna's other love interest, who is tough and selfish. She craves the tenderness that Drew brings to the role. They work beautifully together, just listen to 'You Matter To Me' and you'll see.

For me the standout performance was the one and only Keala Settle, who I mentioned in last week's Priscilla Queen of The Desert highlight. She's brash and witty. Kealas character Becky has lived a somewhat difficult life, that went down the wrong path. She ends up somewhere she never thought she would, she takes what she's given and she figures it out. Her breakout moment is definitely her song "I Didn't Plan It." An epic reveal of her life, taking the good and bad and dealing with it. She belts the crap out of it, as she usually does and steals the show. She pours her heart and soul into the performance and it just makes you want to stand up and shout YES!

I can't say with all honesty that Waitress was one of my favourite shows. I think it had beautiful moments and showcased some spectacular performances, but it didn't connect with me like I was expecting it to. I'm not sure if it had to do with all the hype I had heard around it. Whenever I told anyone I was going they couldn't help but rave about it, which I respect. Maybe it's because I was looking forward to seeing Jessie sing 'She Used To Be Mine' live and I didn't get the opportunity. But that's not to say that I didn't like it. It's a beautiful show, with a charming story, gorgeous music and a magical feel all wrapped around a piece of pie.