REVIEW: Waitress a sweet, satisfying confection
To everyone’s surprise, the modest but charming little 2007 movie rom-com Waitress turned out to be a sleeper hit.
It told the story of a small-town waitress (and terrific baker) named Jenna who yearns to enter a pie-baking contest to win prize money so she can escape an unhappy life. The film gave TV star Kerri Russell a movie career and was the first film appearance of a new actor who combined a remarkable ability at twinkly comedy and an immense likeability with matinee idol good looks. That actor was Nathan Fillion, a local performer who had just recently left a flourishing career on Edmonton stages, and now adds considerable star power to television’s The Rookie.
The film was turned into a Broadway musical in 2016 and continued its charmed life by becoming a crowd pleasing hit on the Great White Way. The Broadway Across Canada version plays at the Jubilee Auditorium through Dec. 1.
Although the plot is as light as a puff pastry and a bit sugary, there are a few reflective social twists that give it a pinch of grist not often found in your typical Jennifer Aniston-type vehicle. Besides, it never really takes itself seriously, even though there is a central female self-empowerment message – that’s only become more relevant since the film came out.
Jenna (Bailey McCall) is caught in an abusive relationship with her brute of a husband, Earl (Clayton Howe). Back at Joe’s Pie Diner, just off the highway, she is turning out her own inspired, wacky pie creations like “My Husband Is a Jerk Chicken Pot Pie.” At this inopportune moment, Jenna discovers she’s in a family way – in the only musical-comedy song (delivered in tight three-part harmonies) you’ve ever heard about a home pregnancy test, The Negative. She titles her latest baking sensation, “My Eggs Have Trapped Me Pie.”
The unhappy mom-to-be then complicates her already fuddled life by falling in love with Dr. Pomatter (David Socolar) – her married, somewhat flakey but sensitive gynaecologist. He samples one the pies she bakes and their relationship is cemented on the spot – which generates the love-song It Only Takes a Taste. Her latest boffo creation becomes, “I Wanna Play Doctor With My Gynaecologist Pie.” Realizing the impossibility of their tryst they sing a sad but winning break-up duet, Bad Idea. The two performers are endearing and play well off each other.
Jenna is surrounded at the diner by some supportive friends who add a distinctive comic flavour of their own: Becky (Kennedy Salters) – bawdy and love starved; and eccentric Dawn (Gabriella Marzetta), who is also on a romantic road to sexual fulfillment with an even weirder love mate named Ogie (Brian Lundy). Jake Mills is properly grumpy as Cal the Chef who stalks off the stage after a particularly loud argument with his female staff.
He mumblesm “I got to get out of here before I die of estrogen asphyxiation.”
One of the reasons this amiable crowd pleaser doesn’t descend into an overly sweet concoction is singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles’ (Tony nominated) poetic and tuneful pop-country-R&B music and lyrics. She gives each of the performers a carefully crafted song of their own, as well as some melodic, and often moving, set-pieces for the leads. Lundy got some big laughs with his super-geek routine and, after his show-stopping song and dance feature Never Ever Getting Rid of Me, a burst of enthusiastic applause. The strong but vulnerable McCall – who actually seems to be baking a number of pies on stage throughout the evening – has a wide range and a supple soprano. Her heart-rending She Used to Be Mine builds into a huge power anthem in a memorable solo.
The book (story) by Jessie Nelson adds just enough lemon to the confection to keep it from becoming a terminal sweet-out by keeping her characters grounded in some reality. As the evening progresses the light-hearted romp pivots. Jenna begins to believe in herself enough to move toward the inevitable bittersweet ending.
Waitress is a quirky, easy-to-take, uniformly entertaining show that combines fantasy wish-fulfilment with some dimensional and relatable characters. Guaranteed to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Photos by Broadway Across Canada
