A Broadway Enthusiast Catalog: Waitress The Musical!
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Photo: Joan Marcus
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It’s really hard to write about something you’ve never seen before, something you’ve only imagined by interpreting interviews, watching videos of live performances, reading other people’s reviews, listening to the OST non-stop while reading the Wikipedia synopsis…But I guess that is our job as an audience: reconstruct the artwork we're experiencing directly or not. Since I am an unexperienced Broadway Enthusiast and still ignore quite a lot about that universe, I only pretend to give you a glimpse of what the play is about... and hopefully pick your interest too!
I will only talk about it generally and try not to spoiler it for you (in case you want to see the film or even take a trip to Broadway and buy a ticket... I'm SO not jelly)
Ready?
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Waitress The Musical is a 2015 stage production based on a 2007 film of the same name.
This play was nominated to 4 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical (Jessie Mueller), Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical (Christopher Fitzgerald) and for Best Original Score (Sara Bareilles). It was also nominated to a Grammy Award.
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This independent film was starred by Kerri Russell and Nathan Fillion! It was written and directed by Adrienne Shelly and itdebuted at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. | Music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles, book by Jessie Nelson. It premiered in August 2015, directed by Diane Paulus, choreography by Chase Brock, and starring Jessie Mueller and Drew Gehling. |
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Main characters
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Jessie Mueller Photo: Joan Marcus
JENNA HUNTERSON
Jenna is incredibly creative and is not aware of how talented she is, of how her numbed sensibility, which she only lets out in the kitchen, makes her a strong and powerful woman.
"I can fix this
I can twist it into sugar, butter covered pieces
Never mind what's underneath it
I have done it before
I'll bake me a door to help me get through
I learned that from you
Mama, it's amazing what baking can do"
From the song “What Baking Can Do”
The way she feels about baking, the way she designs and creates inventive pie recipes (and their respective names) that involve unusual ingredients, the way she displays a kind of narrative and tells a story through her pies… it all lines up to show us a deeply emotional character trapped in a numbed outside.
"That reminds me of a thing we would say
Me and my momma in the kitchen when we’d bake
She’d say Jenna, you can tell the whole story with a taste"
From the song “It Only Takes a Taste”
I feel that Jenna is not only trapped in her town and her abusive relationship, she is also trapped in herself. For a long time she feels like she does not deserve to want anything more than what she already has. Jenna is by nature an experimental person, but she’s afraid of going forward, of taking the leap and entering that pie baking competition to prove to herself that she actually is a strong and talented woman… Someone special.
But all of that changes when she finds out she’s pregnant with her husband (the result of a drunken night)… and when she meets Dr. Pommater.
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Drew Gehling and Jessie Mueller. Photo: Joan Marcus
DR. POMMATER
Jim Pommater is charming, handsome, and a bit awkward. They clearly connect on a deep emotional level and he is intrigued by her compassion and resilience. He is sweet and kind to her, something she finds "addictive", as she later tells her baby, not having that kind of interactions with her own husband.
During their affair, Dr. Pommater shows Jenna that she really is valued and that no matter how “wrong” their situation is, she is important to him.
"Because you matter to me
Simple and plain and not much to ask from somebody
You matter to me
I promise you do, you, you matter too
I promise you do, you'll see
You matter to me"
From the song “You Matter to Me”
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Other Characters
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Kimiko Glenn, Ryan Vasquez and Aisha Jackson. Photo: Joan Marcus
DAWN
She has never had a boyfriend before and that is clearly something that makes her feel self-conscious. She fills out an online dating profile and soon gets a response, which makes her extremely nervous because she has to step out of her comfort zone, one that she has set out in order not to get hurt.
"How am I supposed to operate
If I'm just tossed around by fate?
Like on an unexpected date?"
From the song "When He Sees Me"
I think this song hit close to home when I first heard it. I don't think I've ever seen so many of my (past) insecurities represented in one character on a musical play before. Dawn's own insecurities have prevented her from going out on the world and meet someone special, and let herself be special to someone else. The whole prospect of going out on a blind date scares her and brings out those insecurities.
"What if when he sees me, what if he doesn't like it?
What if he runs the other way and I can't hide from it?
What happens then?
If when he knows me, he's only disappointed?
What if I give myself away, to only get it given back?
I couldn't live with that"
From the song "When He Sees Me"
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Keala Settle. Photo:Joan Marcus
BECKY
She has a strong personality but I think that only covers up a soft interior. She also is trapped in a routine in that little town, she also wishes to be free… even if that means making a few mistakes on the way.
“I didn't plan it
Taking back what's been taken for granted
And I can't stand it
I'm sick of the way I've been waiting to break free
I needed saving
And a good mistake needed making
Maybe you need the same thing"
From the song "I didn't Plan it"
There are other important characters that I should mention!
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Earl is Jenna's possesive and controlling husband. He is often criticizing her low paying job as a waitress and suggesting she should give up baking. When he finds out about her pregnancy he makes her promise that he will never love that baby more than she loves him. | Ogie has a blind date with Dawn and he is instantly smitten by her. However, she does not feel the same way. Dawn begs Ogie to leave her alone, but he refuses, insistent on getting to know her better, and although he was annoyingly insistant at the beginning, they soon find out they have a lot in common |
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Joe is Joe's Dinner owner... Duh. He is also a regular customer of the dinner, a rather difficult one. Joe is a bit paternal to Jenna, although not in an obvious way, and he actually is the one that suggests she should enter a local pie contest. | Cal is Jenna, Dawn and Becky's boss. He acts like a grumpy man but we later find out he might not be as unfriendly as he seems. |
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But it makes it up with its freshness, its perkiness, and its ability to lead us through a swing of emotions with its heartfelt song lyrics and frisky rhythms. If you like pop ish show tunes that incorporate many different and non-traditional sounds into one, you'll probably like it... I must admit that at first I found it "too happy" a sound for me but now I absolutely adore it.
Here I leave you with the Waitress Cast performance at the 2016 Tony Awards
And this is Sara Bareilles rendition of the song
She actually got to sing it as Jenna, when she played the part in 2017 and then again earlier this year.
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Well, I think that's all for today!
What do you think? What is/was your opinion on Musical Theatre? What’s your favourite play? Would you buy a ticket to see Waitress if you could? Share it with me on a comment below!
I hope you enjoyed reading about this musical! And maybe now you’d like to go to this youtube link and check out the Soundtrack...? ;)
This is priceless! Congrats, lilixblack! Very good content and very good post! :D
I'm gonna take a look at this musical!
Mae.
Thank you <3 You should check out the songs! There's a few I think you might like.
Great post. Once thing I've learned in life is "Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs."
Nice post! I Want to go to Brodway😁
Thank you!
YES. ME TOO, so bad.