Nottingham Royal Concert Hall – until Saturday 15 August 2026
Reviewed by Louise Ford
3***
It’s all about the pies
When I was asked to review Waitress I was pleased as I do love a musical but I was also puzzled as I hadn’t heard of this particular one. This is a bit surprising as Waitress is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and has received a whole host of nominations both in the America and in the UK. It was the first Broadway musical created by an all female team. It was originally a book written by Jesse Nelson, which was turned into a film, with the script written by Adrienne Shelly. The rights were snapped up and the story was turned into a musical. The songs were written by singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles and the script by playwright Paula Vogel. So quite a gap in my musicals’ knowledge.
So onto the show. The story centres around three waitresses and a busy diner. There’s Jenna (Carrie Hope Fletcher), Becky (Sandra Marvin) and Dawn (Evelyn Hoskins), three waitresses who all have man trouble of one sort or another. They are an all female team of solidarity who support each other whilst delivering pies and coffee to the diners. The diner set is amazing (Scott Pask) it effortlessly moves from the kitchen, where Jenna is creating her magical pies to the front of house where most of the action takes place. In the background there’s a backdrop of a road leading out of town towards a vast horizon.
The diner is owned by the cranky Joe (Les Dennis), with his specific meal order (cream on a separate plate), who turns out to be a fairy godfather at the end. The diner is managed by the short tempered Cal (Dan O’Brien), the waitresses, not surprisingly, run rings round him.
Whilst I loved the setting and the live band, on stage, I struggled a bit to understand the lyrics. The balance between the singers and the lyrics did not seem quite right. This improved in the second half, maybe my hearing had adjusted accordingly. The first half seemed confusing, busy, lively and a bit improbable. I couldn’t quite believe in the romance between Jenna and Dr Pomatter (Dan Partridge). The plot isn’t difficult to follow it just seemed a bit unlikely. The mix of kitchen sink drama and magical baking (sugar), didn’t always gel, for me. Also there are a lot of songs but none of them are particularly memorable.
Having said all of the above the acting and the singing is first class. The last two songs delivered by Jenna (She Used to be Me and Everything Changes) really captured the audience and had them on their feet.
So take a slice of marshmallow mermaid pie and a cup of thick black coffee, down to the Royal Concert Hall and see what you think for yourselves.