Review: WAITRESS Serves the Entertainment at Broadway At Music Circus

Waitress, the Tony-nominated musical with an all-female creative team, is heating up the round at Broadway at Music Circus. It boasts an incredible score by Grammy winner Sara Bareilles and a book by screenwriter Jessie Nelson. It was adapted from the independent film of the same name by screenwriter Adrienne Shelly who, tragically, was killed only a few days before the film was accepted by the Sundance Film Festival. Its themes of redemption, love, perseverance, and courage are universally appealing. Like its unique pies, Waitress is a blend of sugar, spice, hilarity, and feel-good feminine power.

Waitress tells the story of, well, waitresses in a Midwestern diner. Jenna has her hands full creating signatures pies every day for Joe’s Diner and dealing with her abusive husband, Earl. She is desperate to escape, but finds herself pregnant and broke. When the opportunity to enter a pie baking contest opens up, she begins saving in secret for the entry fee. If she can win, the prize money will be her ticket to freedom.

She also has the support of her two friends and fellow waitresses, Becky and Dawn. Becky is dealing with her own problems at home, and Dawn is exploring a new relationship with fellow Revolutionary War-enthusiast, Ogie. In the midst of navigating an awkward relationship with her new gynecologist and deciding which pie to submit, Jenna goes into labor. Her trepidation at becoming a mother vanishes as soon as she sees her new baby, and she comes to realize her worth.

Director Linda Goodrich has guided another beautiful story for the Music Circus stage, following her success with this season’s 42nd Street. She has brought Desi Oakley on board, who brilliantly reprises her role as Jenna. Her rendition of “She Used to Be Mine” brought me to tears with its beauty and relativity for any woman whose life has taken an unexpected path. Her gynecologist, Dr. Pomatter, is played by Bryan Fenkart. His bedside manner is so caring that we just can’t believe him to be a cad, despite his extra healing touches. Jenna’s redneck husband, Earl, is played by Matt DeAngelis, who played the same role on Broadway. He’s so good that we do believe he is as repulsive as his character. Ashley Blanchet’s Dawn is adorable. She is likable, naïve, and the perfect complement to Jared Gertner’s Ogie. Gertner steals the show with his physical comedy and wonderfully nerdy renditions of “Never Getting Rid of Me” and, my personal favorite, “I Love You Like a Table.” Zonya Love, most recently seen at Music Circus in The Wiz, is a vocal powerhouse. She sets Jenna straight with “I Didn’t Plan It,” a song about the surprises that life hands you and the mistakes we all make. Her mistake is their boss, Cal, played by Scott Stangland. He’s also great: more bark than bite, and content to just be “happy enough.” Rounding out the principals are James Judy as Joe, the outwardly cantankerous owner of Joe’s Diner who is touching in his number, “Take it from an Old Man,” and Dayna Marie Quincy as Nurse Norma, Dr. Pomatter’s hilariously no-nonsense nurse.

Waitress is a favorite, and its appeal spans generations. It’s empowering and hopeful. Most importantly, it sends the message that change is always possible and, if we work for it, we can be more than “happy enough.”

 Waitress plays at Broadway at Music Circus through August 11th. Tickets may be found online at BroadwaySacramento.com, by phone at (916) 557-1999, or in person at the Box Office at 1419 H Street in Sacramento.

Photo credit: Kevin Graft

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