Waitress is a treat for the eyes, the ears and the heart. The action takes place mostly in Joe’s Pie Diner, and the set and props are a place for eyes to linger: the underwashed floor, the multi-hued pantry shelves, the musicians in a back corner onstage, the flying ketchup bottles and the plates that glide from Cal back in the kitchen to a diner’s table. The score is melodious, evocative, and best of all, this cast can sing.
As for the heart, Waitress is a sweet and tart story about Jenna (Brianna Kothari Barnes), who is trying to survive while not dreaming of much, indulging in her one superpower of inventing pies that bring her acclaim among the crowd at Joe’s. She’s also dealing with her abusive husband Earl (Thom Miller, who convincingly brings the ick while swaggering) and learns that she is pregnant. Motherhood is something she’d really rather pass on. By chance she hears of a pie contest that her friends urge her to enter; she sees the prize money as her ticket out.
Meanwhile romance or something close to it is a through-line for many of the main characters: Jenna and her OB-GYN, Dr. Pomatter (Michael Evan Williams), and Becky (Rae Agwé) and her secret lover. Even old Joe (Mike Backman) shares some sizzling memories. Dawn (Tony-nominated for “The Prom,” Caitlin Kinnunen) is looking for love, though nervously. Her rendition of “When He Sees Me” will seize your heart and break it. You will hold your breath for her.
And just like that, for Dawn, Ogie (Jacob Tischler) arrives on the scene like a bullet. No spoilers, except to say that Tischler’s presence on the stage is mesmerizing; his awkwardness keeps topping itself in ways that continue to surprise. Once you’ve seen him, you can’t help hoping that he’ll be back before the play’s end. (As Ogie exited the stage in Act I, my husband leaned in to me and asked “how’re you gonna describe that?” Words fail. You will have to see for yourself.) His series of moves throughout “Never Getting Rid of Me” may be the funniest thing I have seen on any stage, anywhere. (And I’ve seen a fair amount.)
The curmudgeonly owner Cal (Adam Huel Potter) makes a snide remark or two about the estrogen levels at the diner, and he is not wrong. The play is centered in the relationship among the three women and how they move through Jenna’s embodiment of so much of women’s contemporary experience: the cranky boss, the unplanned pregnancy, the bad husband, the errant fling, the complexities of motherhood, and the hunger for a departed mother of her own. In Waitress, even pesky and familiar gynecological issues are part and parcel of the ordinary workplace conversation.
This production, though in its preview stage when I saw it, appeared flawless. The cast is uniformly strong. It’s a kinetic play full of fast moves, a tender story, and endearing characters that you’ll recognize and root for. As for what happens with Jenna in the end, I’m still arguing with myself about it.
Similar to the original staging of Waitress that included the aroma of pies baking in the Broadway theater, actual pies were available in the Northern Stage lobby at intermission.
Waitress is on stage through April 13 at Northern Stage in White River Junction, Vermont. Tickets are available here. Don’t wait.
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And in case you are wondering . . . Susan B. Apel shuttered a lifelong career as a law professor to continue an interest (since kindergarten) in writing. Her freelance business, The Next Word, includes literary and feature writing; her work has appeared in a variety of lit mags and other publications including Art New England, The Woven Tale Press, The Arts Fuse, and Persimmon Tree. She connects with her neighbors through Artful, her blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley. She’s in love with the written word.