Waitress – Adelphi Theatre, London

Waitress continues at the Adelphi Theatre, London.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

There is much to love about Waitress, a bittersweet musical that has conquered Broadway and looks set for a long run in London’s West End.

Sara Bareilles, the West Coast singer-songwriter responsible for the music and lyrics, is a remarkable talent and her own version of ‘She Used To Be Mine’ has been my most-visited YouTube port of call for the past couple of years.

Here it gets the full 11 o’clock treatment from Katharine McPhee as Jenna, a disillusioned waitress in a southern states diner where her exotic pies are the dot on the menu, the song reflecting her self-disgust at a life trapped in a hateful, wife-beating marriage.

McPhee was the nice one in Smash, that outstanding TV series about Broadway of a few years ago, and she is the heart and soul of Waitress, which is based on the 2007 cult movie of the same name written and directed by the late Adrienne Shelly.

With a book by Jessie Nelson (a waitress herself for ten years), taut direction by Diane Paulus, likeable songs by Bareilles and choreography by Lorin Latarro, the show is billed as the first where the main creatives are all female although Paulus and Bareilles did come on at the end to explain that it just happened that way and was never planned. 

Well, fancy that – and fancy that the three main parts, Jenna and her sexually frustrated colleagues Becky and Dawn, are women too.

As you might expect, the men have a hard time of it. Jenna’s old man is a thieving macho louse who regards every dollar tip she has put away for a brighter future as his by right, her lover Dr Pomatter is a gauche, sex-mad gynaecologist, Dawn’s amateur magician pursuer Ogie a gurning idiot and her boss Cal (Stephen Leask) a loud bully.

Jenna’s painfully honest fear of impending and initially unwanted motherhood is beautifully achieved by McPhee when Waitress shows its warm heart. Her ‘You Matter to Me’ and ‘It Only Takes a Taste’ duets with her doctor-lover (a fine-voiced David Hunter) are splendid moments.

And how true is ‘Everything Changes’ when baby Lulu arrives and Jenna finally sees what she must do if she make anything of her life. The twist in the ending (no spoiler alert) is clever.

Not everything is perfect. It was often difficult to make out the words in tiny Laura Baldwin’s shrill, shouty, heavily accented Dawn who isn’t helped by the sometimes over-loud band of six under MD Katharine Woolley.

No problem with understanding Marisha Wallace who is in brash Tina Turner mode as Becky ripping into ‘I Didn’t Plan It’ to kick off Act II in showstopping style.

Hunter’s doctor makes singing look easy, Jack McBrayer deservedly gets plenty of laughs as Dawn’s eccentric suitor Ogie, Peter Hannah is truly menacing as Jenna’s horrible husband, Shaun Prendergast makes a real character out of diner regular Old Joe and Kelly Agbowu gets every ounce of humour from her scenes as Nurse Norma.

Loved the flexible set, seamlessly switching from diner to Jenna’s front room, designed by Scott Pask.

The aroma of cinnamon, obviously a key ingredient in Jenna’s blueberry and bacon pies, wafts through the auditorium to get us into a warm, baking mood.

In fact there’s not much to fault, director Paulus driving with pace and passion a script that is an unusual and occasionally uneasy mix of schmaltz and uninhibited sexual fun and games. With 9 To 5 and Company playing round the corner, the West End musical scene is fast becoming a feminist playground! 

Jeremy Chapman

Tickets for Waitress are available HERE