Review: WAITRESS at Short North Stage

Everyone should have a way of expressing themselves. Some sing. Some shout. Some curse.

In the musical WAITRESS, Jenna Hunterson articulates how she is feeling by baking pies. Throughout the course of the musical, she bakes ones with exotic names (“My Husband’s A Jerk Chicken Pot Pie,” “Betrayed by my Eggs Pie” and “Jumping Without a Net Bottomless Pie”) and unusual ingredients (bacon, colored miniature marshmallows, and a slice of tomato on the side). Yet all Hunterson’s pies start with the same three ingredients: butter, sugar, and flour.

Short North Stage’s production of WAITRESS, which runs July 10 to Aug. 10 at the Garden Theatre (1187 N. High Street in downtown Columbus), also has the three ingredients necessary for an outstanding production: an interesting story (flour), quirky characters (sugar), and solid performances (butter). The result is a confection that is satisfying, entertaining, and capable of serving 300 theatergoers.

FLOUR

In WAITRESS, a 2016 musical written by Jessie Nelson (book) and Sarah Bareilles (lyrics and music) Hunterson (a standout performance by Brooke Jacob) is caught in a dead end marriage to her dead beat husband Earl (Cedric Gegel).

What keeps Hunterson going is her support group of co-waitresses Dawn (Sarah Chelli) and Becky (Bessie D. Smith) and her passion for baking pies. “My mama taught me everything I know about pies,” she says in the first act. “It was in her kitchen that I learned that making a pie is an act of love, and how baking can open a door to a better life. Mama came up with hundreds of different pies and they all had real funny names, like Lonely Chicago Pie and Sweet Victory Pie. She told me, ‘Jenna, you can tell a whole story with a taste.’"

Jenna’s mundane world turns upside down when she receives two lines on her pregnancy test as a result of a drunken romp with Earl. Although she is reluctant to have a baby, she is determined to make sure her child doesn’t fall into the bottomless pit of an abusive marriage like she and her mother did. Adding to Jenna’s chaos is an ill-advised affair with her OB-GYN Dr. Pomatter (K.J. Hippensteel, Jacob’s husband in real life). With a little encouragement, she decides her escape plan includes winning a pie bakeoff in nearby Springfield.

Nelson’s snappy dialogue and an assortment of unusual characters are complimented by Bareilles’ poignant songwriting style. Jacob’s delivery of “She Used To Be Mine” is soul stirring and heartbreaking at the same time.

BUTTER

There are so many butter crème touches to this show. Topping that list is the perfect tandem of Hippensteel and Jacob, a married couple off stage who cheat on their respective stage spouses with each other in the course of the musical. Although they have never performed in a show together since they were married, the two naturally have a chemistry with each other and their comfort level and fun energy fuel upbeat songs like “It Only Takes A Taste” and “Bad Idea.” “You Matter To Me,” a song in which both reveal the affair wasn’t some sort of lustful fling but based on a true affection for each other, is touching and moving.

However, little ingredients can make or maim a pie or a musical about pie making. The tiny details in this production make the difference. For example, Scenic Designer Samantha Tamulonis doesn’t just transform the Garden Theatre into a diner but comes up with ways to make the scenes shift into the kitchen, the doctor’s office and Jenna and Earl’s apartment seamlessly.

Director Dionysia Williams Velazco and associate director Dana Boda handled the choreography of the show, adding in unique touches such as a drum line with wooden spoons in one scene and characters providing Jenna with the ingredients she needs for a pie in another.

Costume Designer Max Adrian puts together outfits that match each character, but his choices for Earl’s t-shirts, “Federal Boob Inspector,” and “Baby Daddy,” are on target for Gegel’s character.

SUGAR

While Jacob and Hippensteel are the main focuses in WAITRESS, side characters elevate this show. Playing an abusive husband must be a demanding role, but Gegel raises Earl beyond the cliches. He plays Earl convincingly as a controlling cretin who demands his wife’s tip money and makes Jenna promise she  will still love him more than the baby. He’s so convincing as the bad guy that the audience can side with Jenna when she has her affair.

On the flip side of that are Jenna’s co-workers, boss Cal (Christian G. Cooper), Dawn (Chelli) and Becky (Smith), who provide the comic relief. Smith masters the art of the eye roll and the sharp comeback comment that keeps Cal in his place. Chelli makes the transition from her SNS roles as the streetwise Mary Delgado in JERSEY BOYS and the sultry muse Nardi in NINE, to Dawn, a naïve, nerdy dreamer who finds her unlikely Mr. Right in Ogie (Dru Loman). Although they are on stage far too briefly, Shauna Marie is hysterical as the suspicious, pie-stealing Nurse Norma and Thomas Hellems plays curmudgeonly Joe with understated eloquence.

CRUST

For all its charm, there are a few burn marks on the crust in the WAITRESS script. Most troubling is the ethical problems of a doctor having an affair with his patient and a boss having a relationship with one of his employees (in a kitchen no less). Equally distressing is every married couple in this show, save Ogie and Dawn, has an affair and tries to justify staying together with their partner because, as Becky states, “they love each other.” And while it is not an ethical dilemma, it may be a while before I can order “pineapple upside down pie” without chuckling thanks to a scene with Jenna and Dr. Pomatter.

Still WAITRESS serves up a solid slice of what a good musical should taste like and you may even want a second serving of this SNS production.

Photo: Fyrebird Media