Life’s about to get a little sweeter for ticket holders for the eagerly-anticipated London run of the hit Broadway show Waitress with the announcement of a ‘pie-tastic’ partnership with The Theatre Café.
The tie-in with London’s first theatre-themed coffee shop, will bring the Waitress pie jars created by Cute As Cake of New York to accompany the show’s Broadway run, to audiences at the Adelphi Theatre.
Audience members will be able to buy freshly made pie jars in three flavours – apple crumble, salted caramel or banoffee – every night of the show’s West End run which is due begin with previews from 8 February ahead of its official opening night on 7 March.
Rehearsals are in full swing for the production which will feature former American Idol finalist Katherine McPhee, making her West End debut as Jenna following a Broadway run in the central role in 2018.
McPhee heads a cast that also includes fellow Americans, Emmy-nominated 30 Rock star Jack McBrayer who will also make his West End stage debut in the show and Marisha Wallace, who made her own West End debut last year in the Savoy Theatre’s hit Dreamgirls.
Wallace will play Becky alongside Laura Baldwin (Eugenius!) as Dawn, Peter Hannah (The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, National Theatre of Scotland) as Earl, David Hunter (Kinky Boots, Adelphi Theatre) as Dr. Pomatter and Shaun Prendergast (EastEnders) as Old Joe.
The full company includes Kelly Agbowu, Laura Baldwin, Piers Bate, Nicole Raquel Dennis, Michael Hamway, Peter Hannah, David Hunter, Stephen Leask, Jack McBrayer, Chris McGuigan, Katharine McPhee, Olivia Moore, Nathaniel Morrison, Sarah O’Connor, Leanne Pinder, Shaun Prendergast, Charlotte Riby and Marisha Wallace.
The first major West End musical to boast an all-female creative team, Waitress features a book by Jessie Nelson and music and lyrics by pop singer songwriter Sara Bareilles. The production is directed by Tony Award winning director Diana Paulus with choreography by Lorin Laterro.
About to enter its third year on Broadway, the musical tale of love friendship and perfect pies which based on the cult classic 2007 film of the same name, was expected to arrive on this side of the Atlantic in 2017, but the search for a suitable London theatre took longer than expected.
Late last year the production teams announced plans for the first ever Cast Album Karaoke Nights following the performances on Tuesday 19 February and Monday 18 March. The events will give theatregoers the chance to take to the stage accompanied by the show’s musical director Katherine Woolley to sing one minute from any song from the show.
On its Broadway opening in 2016, Waitress was nominated for four Outer Critics’ Circle Awards, including Outstanding New Broadway Musical; two Drama League Award nominations, including Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical; six Drama Desk nominations, including Outstanding Musical; and four Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical.
A critical and commercial hit, the show’s success has added poignancy due to the tragic loss of the film’s creator who was murdered just before the movie premiered at the famous Sundance Film Festival. Promotional material for the show in the US pays tribute to Shelly and her legacy, and refers to the charitable Adrienne Shelly Foundation set up in her memory by her husband.
Waitress began previews in August 2015 at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it transferred to Broadway’s Brooks Atkinson Theatre in March 2016. The show is currently in the middle of a successful US tour and plans were recently announced for an Australian premiere production at the Sydney Lyric Theatre in 2020.
Angela Thomas
Tickets for Waitress are available HERE
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