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, who won the Tony Award for her portrayal of songwriter/singer Carole King in Beautiful, returns with another spectacular performance in the title role as Jenna, eking out a living in a roadside diner in the South where she has achieved local fame as a baker of transcendent pies named according to her state of mind, which ranges in any given day, hour, minute from whimsical to mordant....The positives far outnumber the negatives. Jenna is a heroine of the moment, taking control of her life and offering no apologies for her choices, even - or especially - the arguable ones. Mueller has a girl-next-door appeal that sublimates into something less earthbound when she sings, her pleasingly throbby mezzo a purring engine in ballads until she lets out the reins and the horsepower kicks in.
Waitress can still be an uncomfortable genre mix: domestic-violence drama and workplace rom-com. That's in the source material, and the musicalization exaggerates it. What I certainly didn't expect, though, is that the musicalization could also help to justify the mismatch. As the story rushed toward its multiple conclusions - a typical Broadway problem the creative team was unable to solve - I began to understand that for these characters, life itself is an uncomfortable genre mix. Seeing that and sharing it is the start of their mastering it. Perhaps it really did take an all-female creative team to understand how such a story could be true, and how it could sing. If so, well, hand me a slice of that humble pie.
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 |
Videos