REVIEW: Waitress at the Lyceum, Sheffield
It’s Bake Off light, it’s sugary, it’s surprisingly bittersweet… and, if Nigella were judging, she’d be taking great big, no-cares-given spoonfuls of Waitress, at the Lyceum in Sheffield until tomorrow.
A slice of theatrical perfection, Waitress is a warm, comforting American pie of a tale about love, motherhood, friendship and life. There’s something wonderfully moreish about a musical that combines mouth-watering pies with delicious harmonies and a sweet story with enough emotional punch to leave you hungry for more.
At its melting centre is Jenna, a gifted pie-maker with a bun in the oven, trapped in an unhappy marriage to the abusive Earl, a controlling brute whose chest tattoo of his own name – in ‘Medieval font’, no less – tells you all you need to know.
The songs are unmistakably the work of US singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles, whose score gives the production its distinctive contemporary sound. Gloriously clashing duets, searing solos and riffs that glide up and down the octaves in a single breathtaking phrase make for a sumptuous musical feast.
West End darling Carrie Hope Fletcher led the show until September as part of its 10th-anniversary UK tour. For October, however, Lucie Jones takes centre stage, and it’s hard to imagine anyone better suited to the role.
The former X Factor contestant and Eurovision hopeful brings real star quality to the part, with vocals that are nothing short of impeccable. Her Jenna is vulnerable yet resilient, fun but flawed, and her singing is sublime.
There’s equally impressive support from Bernadette Bangura as Becky, whose warmth and worldly wisdom offer a reassuring presence, and Evie Hoskins as the kooky Dawn, whose awkward charm provides plenty of laughs. Meanwhile, national treasure Les Dennis has an almost cameo-sized yet ultimately pivotal role as Old Joe, owner of Joe’s Pie Diner, where Jenna works to bake 27 different varieties of pie fresh every morning.
The musical is based on the 2007 film of the same name, and knowledge of its creator Adrienne Shelly’s tragic story lends its themes of motherhood an almost unbearable poignancy. Shelly wrote, directed and appeared in the original film, but never lived to see her ode to motherhood premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival.
The mother of a little girl just two and a half years old, Shelly was brutally murdered by a stranger who almost succeeded in disguising his crime as a suicide.
Beneath the sugary dusting of fun and frothiness, then, lies a deep heartache.
Memory and fantasy sequences lend the production a dreamlike quality at times, blurring the boundaries between Jenna’s everyday struggles and the possibilities she imagines for herself.
Her entanglement with Dr Pomatter, played by Dan Partridge as an extremely engaging hot doc, adds another layer of complication to her already messy life – even if their relationship feels somewhat morally questionable.
Unusually for a musical, the first half is arguably stronger than the second.
In Act Two, the menacing Earl is dispatched a little too readily, while Joe provides a solution to Jenna’s struggles rather too suddenly. Jenna herself undergoes a lightning-fast transformation, bringing everything to a close just a little too quickly and easily.
But the show serves up enough perfect moments — musically sumptuous, funny, life-affirming and unexpectedly affecting — to ensure these shortcomings are easily forgiven.
Waitress is a heartwarming story about strong women finding their voices, supporting one another and discovering that life can offer more than the circumstances that have kept them trapped.
And with Jones behind the diner counter, the production serves up a generous helping of everything a great musical should be: flawless vocals, a superb score and a story with genuine heart.
Second helpings, please.
- Waitress is at the Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield, until Saturday, October 17.