Maiesha McQueen News

Sugar, Butter, Tour! The national tour of Waitress is sprinkling sugar across America. Check out what the critics are saying in each tour stop in the reviews below.

Brought to life by a groundbreaking all-female creative team that features original music from six-time Grammy nominee, Sara Bareilles, Waitress is playing until May 19th at the Fisher Theatre. Jenna is an expert pie maker and as the title suggests, a waitress, who dreams of a way out of her small town and loveless marriage. A baking contest could be chance at a new start along with possibly the town's new doctor, but Jenna has to find to find the courage and strength to try. 'We have pie! There's pie in the lobby,' answered Ephie Aardema, who plays Jenna's friend and fellow waitress in the show, when asked about why Detroit audiences should see the show. 'It also has a lot of heart - more than most musicals.' See what else Ephie had to say about Waitress, tour life, and more below:

Waitress, is in Grand Rapids playing at DeVos Hall through Sunday March, 5th.  It is 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" and "Brave"), a book by acclaimed screenwriter Jessie Nelson (I Am Sam) and direction by Tony Award-winner Diane Paulus (Pippin, Finding Neverland_

The diner recently Welcomed Jeremy Woodard to the role of 'Earl' in the National Touring Production of Waitress! Waitress is the hit Broadway musical from Grammy nominee Sara Bareilles inspired by Adrienne Shelly's 2007 motion picture.

At first glance, WAITRESS has a deceptively simple surface plot. Woman in a bad marriage hangs with gal pals encouraging her to do better for herself. That may be the bare bits of this musical, but its complexities and melodies are as enticing as one of Jenna's famous pies.

The national tour of Waitress, which is running in Tulsa through this weekend at the PAC, is powered by a vibrant female energy, but it is also packed with moments of joy and humor for pie-lovers of all genders. Waitress combines a refreshingly contemporary but accessible score with classic musical theatre influences, both in terms of sound and storytelling. Just as a pie doesn't need to be perfect to be well-worth savoring to the last bite, Waitress is a beautifully imperfect treat, full of sweetness and a cast that you absolutely don't want to miss while they're in town.

"Sugar. Butter. Flour" Waitress! Waitress has arrived at the Times Union and is blowing audiences away. The musical, based on Adrienne Shelley's movie of the same name, follows Jenna, a waitress at a small diner who is stuck in a loveless marriage. Jenna finds herself pregnant and is convinced it is time to chase her own dreams and build a better life for her and her unborn child. First, she must save enough money waitressing at the diner. Jenna meets her doctor, Dr. Pomatter, and things become very complicated. Waitress is filled with laughter, emotion, heartbreak, and pies!

"I Am Wild About You" Pie. My cheeks hurt. Yes, you read that right. My cheeks hurt from smiling. Well, I should explain that my cheeks hurt from smiling, I have been craving pie all day (Key Lime Pie, if you must know) and I have been singing "Sugar, Butter, Flour" in a nonstop loop since watching the national tour of Waitress. Broadway Across America's production of Waitress at the Adrienne Arsht center leaves you giddy and guarantees that you'll come back for seconds.

Jenna, a small town waitress and genius pie maker, is broke, pregnant, and stuck in an abusive marriage. When she finds out about a baking contest held in a nearby county that offers a $25,000 award, she begins to see her pies as her a ticket out of a dangerous marriage and a pathway to a new life.

WAITRESS is a 2015 musical with music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles and a book by Jessie Nelson, which is based on the 2007 film of the same name, written by Adrienne Shelly. It tells the story of Jenna Hunterson (Christine Dwyer), a waitress in an abusive relationship with her husband Earl (Matt DeAngelis). When Jenna unexpectedly becomes pregnant, she begins an affair with her gynecologist, Dr. Jim Pomatter (Steven Good). Looking for a way out, she sees a pie contest and its twenty thousand dollar grand prize as her only chance.

Since its 2015 premiere at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts - a popular laboratory for some of Broadway's most recent smash hits -Waitress, with music and lyrics by the indomitably popular songstress Sara Bareilles and a book by Jessie Nelson, has made defying the theater community's wildest expectations look easy as pie. Somewhat quietly, Waitress has baked a more than 1100 performance run (and counting) on Broadway, spanning nearly three years, no small feat for a modern musical, particularly one that does not rely upon spectacular stage effects, grandiose chorus numbers, a well-known jukebox catalog or Disney source material. Adapted from Adrienne Shelly's 2007 film of the same name - which was by no means a box office juggernaut - the musical incarnation of Waitress has none of these things. What it does have, however, is a fantastic score, relatable and likeable (with one exception) characters, and a well-mixed blend of humor and heart.

Ever since WAITRESS first premiered at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2015 and soon after on Broadway in 2016, audiences have fled to see this wonderful show. The original movie opened in 2007 and was written by the late Adrienne Shelly. It became widely successful and soon after a creative team was assembled in 2013. Sara Bareilles was a star in her own right by this time and she is responsible for the wonderful music and lyrics of this well-done musical. With Jesse Nelson writing the book, she wrote the story using unfinished scripts by Adrienne Shelly to bring Ms. Shelly's voice into the project.

As with each passing season, 2018 proved to be another exceptional year for theater not only in Souther California in general but also in Orange County---my home base. This year, the OC finally welcomed the debut of what has become this century's most awarded and most renowned stage musical ever about the Founding Father etched regally on the 10 dollar bill. Meanwhile, So. Cal. enjoyed a powerful surge of new stage works that explored Asian-American experiences, a positive step forward in the presentation of diverse voices we seldom hear from on the stage. A pair of touring musicals---both opening in the O.C. in early 2019---made such an impact in their Los Angeles engagements for me personally that I had to include them in my list, even though I have not 'officially' reviewed the productions for print. With that said, here is my 'Best of 2018' from Orange County and adjacent locales nearby---a mixture of outstanding shows and brilliant performances that made a lasting, memorable imprint in my theatergoing experience this year.

It's the last week to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Portland Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.

Joe's Pie Diner will open up with Richard Kline in the role of 'Joe' when the tour is in Spokane, WA just prior to its Sacramento engagement. Waitress is the hit Broadway musical from Grammy nominee Sara Bareilles inspired by Adrienne Shelly's 2007 motion picture. The Broadway On Tour presentation of Waitress runs at Sacramento Community Center Theater from Dec. 27, 2018 through Jan. 5, 2019.

There's just two weeks left to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Portland Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.

Joe's Pie Diner will be Opening Up with Richard Kline in the role of 'Joe' on December 14th when the tour is in Spokane, WA at First Interstate Center for the Arts. Waitress is the hit Broadway musical from Grammy nominee Sara Bareilles inspired by Adrienne Shelly's 2007 motion picture.

There's just two weeks left to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Portland Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.

There's just one month left to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Portland Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.