Come and watch Waitress, an award winning and ground breaking theatre production, created by an all-female creative team and starring American Idol sensation Jordin Sparks!
Waitress Tickets:
“WAITRESS is a little slice of heaven!” – Entertainment Weekly
“sweet, sassy and passionate,” – New York Magazine
“generous as a slice of homemade pie” – New York Post
Waitress! A tragic yet hilarious musical story of figuring out what the hell you are doing with your life! There are love affairs, untimely baby bumps, abusive husbands, a tragic death, oh and there’s pie too! If you are bored of the usual Prince Charming getting the lovely Princess and living happily ever after, then this show is for you! Waitress is about discovering your own self-worth, finding that love in your life and taking action. Screw the boys, because ladies, you’re the real heroine, you can do whatever you put your mind too! Now go buy those tickets, Waitress is guaranteed to leave your mouth watering for more! This new American musical celebrates friendship, motherhood, and the magic of a well-made pie.
Wait, pie?? Yes, real pie! In the lobby before every show! Freshly baked as you walk through the doors! How’s that for immersion?! After all, Waitress is the story of Jenna, played by the dreamy Jordin Sparks, winner of 2007 American Idol, a small town American southern girl and expert pie baker at none other than Joe’s Diner. Un-happily married to Earl, played by Ben Thompson, and expecting his baby, she starts an affair with her Doctor, Dr. Jim Pomatter, played by Mark Evans. After an angry encounter with Earl, Jenna decides she is straight up leaving him, so she hatches a plan to hide money from him, and enter a pie contest in order to start a new life for her and her baby. Later, while going into labor at the hospital, Jenna passes Joe, played by Larry Marshall, as he is going into a surgery and he passes her an envelope to open later. After Jenna gives birth to little baby Lulu, played by Raigan Olivia Saunders-Newton, she discovers a new-found strength lies inside her and divorces Earl, ends her affair with Dr. Pomatter. Sadly, Jenna finds out that poor Joe didn’t survive his surgery, but what about that envelope Joe gave her? I wonder what it could be…
Based upon the motion picture written by Adrienne Shelly, brought to life by a groundbreaking, all-female creative team, this Tony Award nominated hit features original music and lyrics by 7-time Grammy nominee Sara Bareilles (“Love Song”, “Brave”), a book by acclaimed screenwriter Jessie Nelson (I Am Sam) and direction by Tony Award winner, Diane Paulus (Pippin, Finding Neverland). In addition, the costume designer, Suttirat Anne Larlarb, and musical director, Nadia DiGiallonardo, are women. For the Broadway production, elements of the book were rewritten, new choreography developed, and a new song written by Bareilles. Manhattan baker Stacy Donnelly and small business owner Dawn Mayo of Everythingdawn Bakery Candles & Treats were hired to ensure that the baking scenes were realistic. Donnelly taught the cast how to work and roll pie dough, as the role of Jenna required Jordin to crack eggs, sift flour and roll out dough on stage. Mayo created all of the prop pies used in the show. Jordin Sparks, who made her Broadway debut in In the Heights, is an American Idol winner who will play a limited engagement in Waitress, assuming the role of Jenna from Alison Luff through November 24. Waitress was nominated for four Outer Critics Circle Awards, including Outstanding New Broadway Musical; two Drama League Awards, including Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical; six Drama Desk Awards, including Outstanding Musical; and four Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
Doors open 30 minutes prior to curtain time. The performance begins promptly at the time noted on your ticket.
Wheelchair locations are available in the Orchestra section.
Waitress on Broadway Review
“Women dismissed for writing fluffy pop hits, “Love Song” in Bareilles’ case, have succeeded where the “serious” likes of U2, Paul Simon, Randy Newman and Sting failed: They’re rocking Broadway. Excuse us while we savor the irony, which is as sweet as the freshly baked pies on sale in the “Waitress” lobby. In a rare case of an adaptation besting its source material, the new musical is an improvement on the 2007 movie it’s based on. From score to casting, book to staging, everything comes together with a deceiving ease. Jessie Mueller is the heart and soul of the show as Jenna, a pregnant diner waitress whose gift for baking amazing pies help her cope with her low-rent bully of a husband and ease her affair with her gynecologist. No wonder she takes so easily to Bareilles’ score: The songwriter’s piano-driven style combines storytelling and catchy melodies the way ’70s pop used to — and Mueller won a Tony for portraying Carole King in “Beautiful.” The show is also better than the movie — which looks awkwardly dated now — in how it creates a tightknit, affectionate community onstage, echoing the one you’d find at a real small-town diner. Most of the action even takes place in the restaurant, with the six-piece band visible in the back.”
Elisabeth Vincentelli, New York Post. 2016.
