There's just one month left to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Portland Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our 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.
by Michael Quintos -
Can you recall the last time you were truly enamored by a stage musical? Well, that is exactly what transpires while watching the all-together endearing hit Broadway musical WAITRESS, which continues its national tour stop at Orange County's Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa through November 25, 2018. Like the warmest of embraces, the yummiest of comfort food, and the most cherished camaraderie of dear friends or loved ones, WAITRESS is, overall, quite an adorable, extremely likable show. Even its forgivable flaws are trounced by its irresistible delicacy and its winsome machinations.
by Julie Musbach -
Maiesha McQueen RETURNS in the role of Becky in the national tour of Waitress - the Broadway musical from Grammy nominee Sara Bareilles inspired by Adrienne Shelly's 2007 motion picture.
by Krista Garver -
If a musical can heal the world, that musical is THE COLOR PURPLE -- specifically, the production now playing at Portland Center Stage. This star-studded production, headed by the luminous Felicia Boswell in the role of Celie, tells a story of empowerment that has probably never been more needed than it is right now.
by Julie Musbach -
Portland Center Stage at The Armory's 2018-2019 season launches with the Tony Award-winning musical The Color Purple, adapted from Alice Walker's classic novel about the sisterhood, resilience and self-empowerment found in a community of black women living in rural Georgia in the early 20th century. The Color Purple begins preview performances on September 15, opens on September 21, and runs through October 28 on the U.S. Bank Main Stage. Timothy Douglas directs the production, joined by music director Darius Smith, who will bring the Grammy Award-winning score to life.
by A.A. Cristi -
Portland Center Stage at The Armory's 2018-2019 season launches with the Tony Award-winning musical The Color Purple, adapted from Alice Walker's classic novel about the sisterhood, resilience and self-empowerment found in a community of black women living in rural Georgia in the early 20th century. The Color Purple begins preview performances on September 15, opens on September 21, and runs through October 28 on the U.S. Bank Main Stage. Timothy Douglas directs the production, joined by music director Darius Smith, who will bring the Grammy Award-winning score to life.
by A.A. Cristi -
Portland Center Stage at The Armory's 2018-2019 season launches with the Tony Award-winning musical The Color Purple, adapted from Alice Walker's classic novel about the sisterhood, resilience and self-empowerment found in a community of black women living in rural Georgia in the early 20th century. The Color Purple begins preview performances on September 15, opens on September 21, and runs through October 28 on the U.S. Bank Main Stage. Timothy Douglas directs the production, joined by music director Darius Smith, who will bring the Grammy Award-winning score to life.
by Ellen Dostal -
Can eating a pie be a religious experience? It can if it was made by Jenna, the diner waitress in the Broadway musical WAITRESS, who turns ordinary ingredients like butter, sugar, and flour into mouthwatering slices of life in a pie tin.
by Stephi Wild -
The Los Angeles Premiere engagement of Waitress will play Hollywood Pantages Theatre for a four-week engagement; August 2 - 26, 2018. The show held its opening night on August 3. Following the performance, the show's writers, Sara Bareilles and Jessie Nelson, gave speeches. Watch the full speeches in the video below!
by Stephi Wild -
The Los Angeles Premiere engagement of Waitress will play Hollywood Pantages Theatre for a four-week engagement; August 2 - 26, 2018. The show held its opening night on August 3. Check out photos from the red carpet at the big night below!
by BWW News Desk -
Broadway In Chicago has announced full casting for the upcoming National Touring Production of WAITRESS, the new Broadway musical from Grammy nominee Sara Bareilles inspired by Adrienne Shelley's 2007 motion picture. WAITRESS will play the Cadillac Palace Theatre (151 W. Randolph) for a limited three-week engagement July 3 - 22, 2018.
by Jeffrey Ellis -
There comes a moment late in act two of Waitress, the Jessie Nelson-Sara Bareilles musical now onstage at Tennessee Performing Arts Center's Andrew Jackson Hall, when Desi Oakley - the actress portraying Jenna Hunterson, the show's very pregnant heroine - finds herself bathed in the bright glow of a spotlight and she delivers the show's stirring and emotionally driven climax: a performance of Bareilles' plaintive pop ballad "She Used to Be Mine," arguably the score's best-known and most beloved song.
by Julie Musbach -
This coming Monday, May 21st, the hit acoustic concert series BROADWAY AT W launches in the nation's capital at W WASHINGTON D.C. Overlooking the White House and the National Mall, this marks the fifth location of BROADWAY AT W after previous launches in W New York- Times Square, W Hollywood, W Chicago-City Center, and W Leicester Square (London).
by Perry Tannenbaum -
With her country-rich voice, Desi Oakley keeps the Southern heart of WAITRESS beating despite the silly lagniappe of the script and the tour's overmiked production.
by A.A. Cristi -
Casting has been announced for the upcoming Washington, D.C. premiere of the irresistible Broadway musical hit WAITRESS, which comes to the National Theatre for a 3-week limited engagement from May 15 thru June 3, 2018.
by Dylan Shaffer -
Sugar. Butter. Flour. Welcome to the kitchen where Jenna (Desi Oakle) is baking up a fresh pie. She works tirelessly every day baking new pies and serving at Joe's Diner, only to have her abusive husband Earl (Nick Bailey) take her sweet earnings at the end of every shift. This all changes when Jenna discovers she is pregnant with Earl's baby.
by Nancy Grossman -
Nearly three years after it premiered at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, and while still enjoying a successful run on Broadway, the national tour of WAITRESS is serving customers at the Boston Opera House as part of the Lexus Broadway In Boston 2017-2018 season. The Diane Paulus-driven and directed production is adapted from the 2007 motion picture of the same name written by Adrienne Shelly, with book by Jessie Nelson, and music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles. The Broadway designers are on board to bring the same creative elements to the tour, and a handful of the cast has also performed with the show on the Great White Way.
by Michael Rabice -
A successful Broadway musical has always been anchored by an engaging story augmented by a great score. Over the years the formula hasn't changed much but the sound of the music certainly has, as popular music changes and evolves The 30's had Cole Porter, Burt Bacharach and his synthesizers appeared in the 60's, and Elton John's pop score succeeded for THE LION KING , so no one should be surprised that Sara Bareilles and her unique style of song writing could be next on the list. Her 2016 score to WAITRESS, now playing for a one week engagement at Shea's, earned her a TONY nomination and the show has a been a hit ever since.
by BWW News Desk -
Full casting has been announced for the upcoming National Touring Production of WAITRESS, the new Broadway musical from Grammy nominee Sara Bareilles inspired by Adrienne Shelley's 2007 motion picture.
by Zachary James -
The most important ingredient in every great recipe is love and it's not a secret element in the formula that made the hit musical, Waitress. She is rich with love in heaping scoops and I, for one, am ready for seconds.
BroadwayWorld TV