The first words of this food-fixated musical are ‘Sugar, butter, flour’, and though some of its ingredients are fluffy or icky it eventually whisks up a satisfying mixture of whimsy, warmth and sadness.
It’s subtler than I had expected, this Broadway blockbuster that now has a home in the West End. Waitress, based on a motion picture of the same name, tells the story of Jenna Hunterson (Katharine McPhee), who is in an unhealthy relationship with Earl (Peter Hannah). Her waitressing is done in a pie shop, [...]
Kookiness can be a ploy to cover up a flimsy story. As the old proverb goes, empty vessels make the most noise. But the interesting thing about this super-kooky hit musical from Broadway is that I found myself taking it increasingly seriously. By the end of the two-and-a-half-hour kook-fest I was kinda smitten. Young [...]
This is both a romcom set in the workplace and a feminist drama.
An astonishing statistic about this Broadway transfer is that it’s the first Broadway show with an all-female lead creative team, and the same is true of the West End production. Writer, composer, director, choreographer, musical director, and the three lead cast: all women. It’s also really wonderful, with the sweetness, crispness and comfort of [...]
The hit Broadway musical has its West End premiere at the Adelphi Theatre.
I have to confess to craving a slice of humble-pie after watching Waitress, the latest big Broadway musical import, set in a Southern diner specialising in home-made pies. The pitch to audiences here – “an uplifting celebration of love and laughter” – is enough to make a cynic reach for a barf-bag before entering [...]
Waitress opened on Broadway in the same 2015/16 season as Hamilton - so, hardly surprisingly, lost out in the Tony Awards race, including for best musical and best original score.
Sara Bareilles and Jessie Nelson's 2015 musical adaptation of Adrienne Shelly's film, about a small-town waitress who processes her feelings via her skillful baking, brings its sugar and spice concoction to the West End.
YOU’LL never look at a pie in the same way after watching US stage smash Waitress.
