The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
‘Waitress’ tour at Playhouse Square is delicious as pie
‘Waitress’ tour, starting in Cleveland, a tasty crowd-pleaser
“Waitress” is pretty close to being that perfect slice of theatrical pie. ¶ Neither too filling nor too sweet, the musical comedy contains a few surprising ingredients and complexities that make it a rather memorable treat. And the national tour of this Broadway show that just launched at Playhouse Square’s Connor Palace in Cleveland is a mustn’t-miss affair.
The show is based on the 2007 film of the same name that was written and directed by the late Adrienne Shelly and starred Keri Russell and Nathan Fillion. Like the movie, the musical adaptation centers on Jenna (portrayed by the talented Desi Oakley on the tour), a waitress at a smalltown diner who bakes a wide range of pies that are of the knock-your-socks-off variety and often have unusual combinations, such as blueberries and bacon. And while some of the pies were passed down from Jenna’s mother, others are her creations. Plus, many come with unusual names, such as Marshmallow Mermaid Pie and Bad Baby Pie. (The names get more creative and story-specific as the narrative unfolds — I Want To Play Doctor With My Gynecologist Pie, for example — and it’s still a delightful device more than a decade after Shelly cooked it up.)
Jenna is married to Earl (Nick Bailey), who’s boorish and somewhat abusive and who, much to Jenna’s horror, has put a baby inside her. She blames this on “one dumb night” and laments to her fellow waitresses at Joe’s Pie Diner, Dawn (Lenne Klingaman) and Becky (Charity Angel Dawson), about how alcohol leads her to make stupid decisions, such as sleeping with her husband.
When she goes to visit her longtime gynecologist, Jenna learns that the older female doctor is gone, and in her place is a young, new-to-town male physician, Dr. Pomatter (Bryan Fenkart). Jenna is initially uncomfortable with the idea of being treated by this man, but she quickly finds she shares a chemistry with the odd-but-kind fellow, who, like her, is married.
She offers him the aforementioned marshmallow pie she brought for her former doctor and is shocked to learn he avoids sugar and hasn’t had a slice of pie in many years.
“Really?” she asks. “Life’s hard enough.”
She leaves the pie, of course, and, of course, he can’t resist a taste and is soon devouring it.
Their mutual attraction only grows when they share time on a park bench and then during a subsequent and largely unneeded appointment, when Dr. Pomatter has Jenna come to the office two hours before it normally opens. She is furious with him, accuses him of having inappropriate motivations for seeing her and then — to the surprise of no one — kisses him passionately.
They enter into a torrid affair, if one involving a lot of baked goods. (A clever montage involving their encounters — and her pies — stands out in a show chock full of highlights. It is at one moment very risque, but in the most show-appropriate way.)
We suspect this romance can’t go on forever, though, and that Earl must learn about a pregnancy his wife is hiding from him. However, Jenna is working toward an endgame — she’s saving money to enter herself in a regional pie-baking contest that offers enough prize money to give her and her child a new start away from her now-unemployed husband.
Meanwhile, the assertive Becky and kooky Dawn have romantic subplots, the latter’s being far more substantial and entertaining than the former’s.
That it is so entertaining is a credit, in large part, to Jeremy Morse, whose Ogie falls for Dawn after a fiveminute date. Although they seem like a fine match, she’s not interested — a fact Ogie doesn’t let stand in his way during his passionate pursuit. To say that Morse’s performance is “over-thetop” just doesn’t do it justice. He is a hurricane of awkward hilarity. Bravo, sir.
Speaking of male performers in “Waitress” giving wonderful life to awkward characters, Fenkart also deserves a great many kudos. His Dr. Pomatter is awkwardly charming in such a delightful way — he takes what Fillion did in the film at least a step or two further — that you forget he’s cheating on his wife, who, unlike Earl, seems like a fine person.
That said, this musical is powered by women, from writers Jessie Nelson (book) and Sara Bareilles (music and lyrics) to director Diane Paulus. Nelson clearly knew how to make Shelly’s story work on stage, and singer-songwriter Bareilles’ songs, perhaps not all that memorable in a vacuum, work wonderfully within the story, at times heightening the comedy and at other bringing emotional potency and boasting subtext-laden lyrics. Paulus’ direction, meanwhile, is rocksolid, with nice touches including creative use of the onstage band.
Speaking of the women who make “Waitress” go, it would be downright spoiled-food rotten to go any further without acknowledging that Oakley, whose Broadway credits include “Wicked,” “Les Miserables” and “Annie,” is flatout terrific.
She makes you care about Jenna right away and brings quite a range to her daunting song load; while she shares several numbers with other cast members, she goes at it mostly alone for “What Baking Can Do” in the first act and “She Used to Be Mine” in the second.
Seemingly everyone involved with this production, from Broadway veteran Larry Marshall, who plays crotchety diner owner Joe, to lighting designer Ken Billington, who’s work here is excellent, deserves a hand.
While “Waitress” was nominated for several but won almost no major awards after debuting on Broadway in April 2016, it’s still running in the Big Apple, and that’s not surprising.
This is a crowd-pleaser of the decidedly delicious variety.