Lucie Jones (Rent, Legally Blonde) will return to the role of Jenna for the first UK and Ireland tour of Broadway and West End hit Waitress which will now open at the New Wimbledon Theatre on 4 September 2021.
The X Factor finalist turned musical theatre favourite who had just returned to the hit West End production when the pandemic hit will now head the cast on tour alongside fellow Adelphi Theatre stars Sandra Marvin (Hairspray, Chicago) as Becky and Evelyn Hoskins (Carrie, Spring Awakening) as Dawn.
They will be joined by Busted’s Matt Willis who will follow up roles in West End productions of Flashdance and Wicked and the Covid-curtailed A Christmas Carol at the Dominion in 2020, by taking on the role of Dr Pomatter. The cast will also include George Crawford as Ogie, Tamlyn Henderson as Earl and Christopher D. Hunt as Cal.
With further casting details to be announced soon the company will include Monique Ashe-Palmer, Amelia Atherton, Donal Brennan, Aimée Fisher, Nathanael Landskroner, Charlie Martin, Liam McHugh, Olivia Mitchell and Ben Morris.
Originally due to hit the road in November 2020, and previously rescheduled for May this year, the eagerly-anticipated tour will now follow its launch dates in Wimbledon before visiting Leeds, Crawley, Sheffield, Milton Keynes, Eastbourne, Sunderland, Manchester, Aberdeen and Stoke-on-Trent.
In 2022 the tour will visit Northampton, Edinburgh, Leicester, Hull, Bristol, Woking, Bromley, Belfast, Newcastle, Plymouth, Llandudno, Inverness, Glasgow, Oxford, Liverpool, Birmingham, Southampton, Cardiff , Dublin, Torquay, Wolverhampton, Dartford, Brighton, Nottingham, Bradford, Canterbury, Southend and Norwich.
The first major West End musical to boast an all-female creative team Waitress opened at London’s Adelphi Theatre in March 2019. Featuring a book by Jessie Nelson and music and lyrics by award-winning singer/songwriter Sara Bareilles, the musical is directed by Tony Award winner Diana Paulus with choreography by Lorin Laterro.
Inspired by Adrienne Shelley’s 2007 film Waitress, the musical tale of love friendship and perfect pies opened on Broadway in 2016. A hit with audiences and critics, the show 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.
Waitress began previews in the US in August 2015 at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts, before transferring to Broadway’s Brooks Atkinson Theatre in March 2016. Due to Covid-19, the successful North American tour is currently on hold. Waitress is currently on tour in Japan with a Japanese language production and is due to open in Australia and Holland soon.
Waitress was originally produced by Barry and Fran Weissler and Norton and Elayne Herrick. The UK and Ireland tour is produced by Barry and Fran Weissler and David Ian Productions.
Angela Thomas
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