Review Roundup: WAITRESS, THE MUSICAL - LIVE ON BROADWAY! Premieres at Tribeca Film Festival

On Monday night, Waitress, the Musical - Live on Broadway! made history as the very first film to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival while also being broadcast in Times Square.

“Waitress, the Musical - Live on Broadway!” is a heartwarming story that follows the life of Jenna Hunterson (Sara Bareilles), a pie-maker and waitress stuck in an unfulfilling marriage in a small town. Jenna finds solace in baking and dreams of winning a baking contest in a nearby city to escape her mundane life.

When Jenna becomes pregnant, she decides to take control of her life with the help of her co-workers and a new town doctor. She confronts her past, faces her fears, and makes life-changing choices.

Based on the beloved film of the same name, the musical adaptation was created with original music and lyrics by singer Sara Bareilles and captured audiences’ hearts during its run around the world.

The first reviews for the new live capture of the hit musical have been released. Read them below and check back later as we update this roundup with more reviews as they are released!

Damon Wise, Deadline: "Director Brett Sullivan records Paulus’s fluid staging in a way that suggests he may have studied Spike Lee’s 2020 concert movie American Utopia. Not that Lee reinvented the wheel in any spectacular way, but his filming of David Byrne’s concert show was clearly the work of a team player rather than a documentarist. Sullivan takes a similar approach, regarding the audience, the stage and the building itself as characters, consolidating the idea of live theater as something to participate in as much as be seen."

Larry Fried, Geek Vibes Nation: "Though it certainly isn’t challenging the form, Waitress does utilize a number of cinematic techniques to add new dimension to specific scenes: slow motion, superimposition, and even the occasional unbroken long take. Having both the language of cinema and theater coalesce in this way is a treat for fans of both mediums, but never distracts to the point that any person in one camp may be confused by the other."

Allegra Frank, The Daily Beast: But even if the musical’s attempt to give back to the medium that birthed the source material is uneven, it accomplishes its main, important goal: It will help more people see this wonderful piece of musical theater."

Watch the trailer for Waitress, the Musical - Live on Broadway! here: