Sunderland Empire – until 30 September 2021
5*****
Every so often you see a show that really speaks to you, almost giving you an epiphany. Waitress is such a show.
Beautifully written by Jessie Nelson with stunning music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles and sensitively directed by Diana Paulus, it was billed as the first Broadway musical with an all-female creative team and this is a show that is a tribute to female solidarity.
Lucie Jones plays Jenna, a waitress in a diner. Trapped in an abusive marriage, like her mother before her. FInding herself stuck with a pregnancy and husband, of which she wants neither. But with no way of escape for her either. Every day she freshly bakes 27 pies for the diner and it’s in this baking that her mind manages to escape when she physically can’t.
Unusually Waitress is a moving musical full of flawed, morally compromised characters. Jenna begins an affair with her married obstetrician Dr Pomatter (Matt Jay-Willis). Her fellow waitresses have hard times too. Becky (Sandra Marvin) has a husband who is very ill meaning she is now more of a carer than a wife and lover, begins an affair with diner chef Cal (Christopher D Hunt) who’s wife he suspects is gay. Dawn (Evie Hoskins) is timid but looking for love, adorably geeky she finds love with uber geek Ogie (George Crawford) and they cement their love in their reenactment clothing. Dawn has playedBetsy Ross in 43 different reenactments after all. Jenna’s husband Earl (Donal Brennan covering the absent Tamlyn Henderson) is menacing, taking all her tips and living off her wages after losing his job. He’s pleased about the baby because it proves his manhood but so insecure he makes Jenna promise not to love the baby more than him.
Bareilles’ lyrics are full of melody and feeling, from poppy to ballad, with the show stopping She Used to be Mine stopping the show for a good five minutes while Jones basked in a much deserved applause. And if this was a show that spoke to me then She Used to be Mine really did sing to me. I still have these lyrics in my head over 12 hours later. For me this wasn’t so much a show but a life lesson
A special mention must go out to the band who were on stage (but not always seen) all night. Ellen Campbell, Denise Crowley, Oliver Copeland, Alex Crawford and Rowland Palmer brought the melodies to life. Scott Pasks’s set and Suttrat Anne Larlarb’s costumes bring authenticity to the diner, typical of one seen on film and TV, or visited on American holidays.
Thankfully there is a happy ending, a beautiful baby is born, the affair ends and a way out is produced for Jenna to escape. Sugar, butter and flour might make the perfect pie, but Waitress makes the perfect musical