No, you're not dreaming, the Sarah Bareilles and Jessie Nelson's musical will play its first UK performance at the Adelphi Theater next February. 🥧
In six months, we will be able to enjoy Sara Bareilles' music once again with songs like “What Baking Can Do” and “She Used To Be Mine”.
A little bit of history
The musical is based on the 2007 film of the same name directed by Adrienne Shelly and starring Keri Russell as Jenna. The film follows Jenna, a pie baker and waitress in the southern United States who becomes pregnant and feels trapped in an unhappy marriage. Looking for some hope, Jenna discovers a pie competition and sees this opportunity as her only chance for a fresh start.
In 2013 the producer couple Barry and Fran Weissler announced a musical version of the film with music by Sara Bareilles, a libretto by Jessie Nelson and a staging by Diane Paulus.
Waitress was born at the American Repertoire Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts in August 2015. The show was sold out for a month and Waitress announced its transfer to Broadway for April 2016. For its opening on Broadway at the Brooks Atkinson Theater, the cast includes, among others, Jessie Mueller, Drew Goehling, Keala Settle and Kimiko Glenn.
The show becomes a huge success and is nominated for 6 Drama Desk Awards (including 1 won by Christopher Fitzgerald), 1 Grammy Awards and 4 Tony Awards, but unfortunately wins none against the big winner Hamilton who won 11 Tony that evening.
Little anecdote : in order to give the theater the smell and atmosphere of an American diner, the production has placed an oven behind the doors that lead to the armchairs. 20 minutes before the doors open to the public, a “pie consultant” puts an apple pie in the oven which will bake throughout the show and which will gradually add flavor to the room!
This production will be the first show to have an all-female artistic team: music by Sara Bareilles, staging by Diane Paulus and choreography by Lorin Latarro.
The casting will be announced very soon as well as the seat reservation information.
While waiting to discover or rediscover Waitress on stage, you can watch the performance of the 2016 Tonys: