When I first heard they were doing a musical adaptation of the film Waitress I was confused. Nothing in that fairly forgettable indie film screamed musical to me but I was intrigued about the project as soon as I heard Sara Barielles was doing the music and lyrics. I’m a huge fan of Sara and I even have a signed poster of hers on my living room wall! I then got to see her in Waitress in October of 2021 (my return to Broadway after the pandemic.) Now Pioneer Theatre Company is putting on the show and it manages to take a challenging story and give it heart and humanity with some good songs too…

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Normally I’m not a big fan of adultery stories. I don’t like feeling manipulated by a piece of media into siding with the adulterers. Often they make the spouse a monster as a way to justify the affair in the minds of the audience and characters. My view is two wrongs don’t make a right. Just because something is bad doesn’t make something else bad good (like The Awakening by Kate Chopin is a book I loathe.) Anyway, the thing about Waitress (as a musical at least. The film not as much) is it never really tries to justify Jenna’s infidelity as a bold or great decision. She’s obviously very unhappy and stepping out of her marriage is a symptom of that unhappiness.

At PTC Claire Saunders captures this depression of Jenna beautifully. I honestly was a little unsure of her performance at first because one could see the emptiness in her face. But as the scenes unfold that emptiness became a clear character choice as she began to dive into her seemingly lack of attractive options for happiness. For Jenna, at least this relationship provides some moments of joy, which is something she can’t say about much else in her life.

Thankfully Waitress book writer Jessie Nelson has given us enough breaks from the sadness to make for an overall thoughtful and heartwarming experience. My favorite is the comic relief from Dawn (Lexi Rabadi) and Ogie (Daniel Plimpton.) They are hilarious and a much needed positive love story to counterbalance Jenna’s sad story.

Everything about the PTC production directed by Melinda Pfundstein is as high a quality as the Broadway production I saw back in 2021. There were a few little hiccups but the set by Yoon Bae looks great and the props including all the pies look completely edible and delicious. The backgrounds on Jenna’s house and the doctor’s office looked a little modern for our homespun story but nothing too jarring.

At one point Cal (Aaron Arnell Harrington) says to Jenna that he’s “happy enough” which becomes the emotional question of Waitress: Is “happy enough” good enough for a fulfilled life? Waitress‘ answer seems to be yes and no. The musical highlight of the show is the song “She Used to Be Mine” powerfully sung by Saunders at PTC. In this song Jenna says that she’s fine being ‘happy enough’ but only when it’s on her terms when she decides “to bring back the fire in her eyes. That’s been gone, but used to be mine.” Who can’t connect with that feeling? I know I can.

That’s what works with Waitress and the production at PTC brings all of these feels and more. It’s a wonderful way for them to finish off their season and one I recommend to anyone who enjoys heartfelt stories with good songs. Go see it! It is playing through May 17th with a Pay What You Can night on May 12th and tickets can be purchased here.

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