Although I’d heard of the 2007 film Waitress and always meant to watch it, I hadn’t heard of the musical adaptation until the Nashville Repertory Theatre announced it as their season opener. The show is delightful and very, very funny. The music and lyrics were written by Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles, who even starred in a live stage recording of the Broadway show in 2021 and has been nominated for Tony and Emmy awards. 

Although I’ve always enjoyed Sara Bareilles’s hits, I’m not terribly familiar with her music. Going in, I wondered if she had enough variety to fill out an entire show’s worth of music. Happily, she does. So many of the songs are hilarious, giving a lot of laughs and preventing the show from being dominated by hardship. And what beats the live performance of a comic Broadway song? “Club Knocked Up” is less than a minute long and since watching the show I’ve listened to the cast recording multiple times, cracking up each time. Much of the story is communicated through the music, too, making it purposeful and avoiding any slog (except for the song “Take It From an Old Man,” which while performed well by Dennis R. Elkins, reminded me of “That Song In Every Musical That No One Likes” by Sarah Smallwood Parsons https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXKUgjYh7lo). 

The show’s humor, both in its dialogue and music, is a strength: despite life’s hardships, it is full of joy. Jenna, a waitress and pie baker, finds out she’s pregnant. Her husband Earl is abusive and she feels trapped: she’s going to keep the baby, but feels no joy at its approach and dreads the father that Earl will be; her own father was an abusive alcoholic. After being told of a pie baking contest with a $20,000 grand prize, she decides that winning the competition is the only way for her to leave Earl and create a new life for herself and her child. As the competition draws near, she gets closer to her new doctor, a man who is new to town. I won’t give away any more of the story, but I will say that the plot doesn’t have the progression that I expected (making a much better story than I had predicted), and the second act keeps the momentum and humor of the first. 

There are moments when Jenna is in the kitchen baking pies for the diner. These share a musical motive, a single voice singing “sugar, butter, flour,” while she mixes pie fillings. Jenna sings songs explaining her thoughts, some of her backstory, and this is tied in with the ingredients for her pies and the creative names she gives them. Props manager Lilian Hargesheimer provides delicious-looking ingredients. These scenes are excellent way to provide access to Jenna’s inner battles while making the entire audience long for pie.

Gary C. Hoff’s sets are great. The main stage is Joe’s Pie Diner, where Jenna works and much of the plot occurs. It’s got the odd yellows and pinks associated with classic diners, giving it the faded look of a place that’s been well-used, well-cleaned, and never redecorated. One wall pivots open and can be the restroom or Jenna’s home. The doctor’s office is lowered onto center stage and its wallpaper and decor are spot on. The band sits backstage on a slight elevation, and they are tight, musically expressive and with a well-balanced sound.

The community surrounding Jenna is well-written, kind and supporting without existing only to feed her lines. Her two best friends and fellow waitresses, Becky and Dawn, are two stereotypes done excellently. Becky is sassy and uninhibited, and Dawn is young, nerdy, and uptight. As Jenna strays into morally questionable behavior, she finds out that she’s not the only one with secrets. 

Director Lauren Shouse made sure absolutely everyone is well cast, and anyone who isn’t as strong a singer as the others certainly makes up for it in their acting abilities. Sarah Aili as Jenna balances the character well: kind and attentive to others, while flawed and unable to recognize her inner strength. She delivers many of her lines in quality deadpan and is always likable. 

Piper Jones is Becky, and her powerful voice blew me away in “I Didn’t Plan It.” She is funny and has the exact right amount of sass. Annabelle Fox nails the likably weird young Dawn. Her real-life husband Douglas Waterbury-Tieman plays Ogie, her romantic interest. His talented comedy meshes with hers perfectly, and his two big songs were fantastic. Earl, the hilariously stupid and tragically abusive husband is played by Dustin Davis, and he skillfully oscillates between making the audience laugh and making them furious. Christopher Bailey is Dr. Pomatter, Jenna’s gynecologist, and his tense nervousness is both charming and deeply funny. The comically disapproving Nurse Norma is played by Meggan Utech with flair. Bakari King as Cal, the gruff diner owner, is all bark and no bite.  

The show is a lot of fun. I wouldn’t recommend it for kids because of the (hilarious) sexual humor during “Bad Idea (Reprise),” but I’d recommend it to every adult. Plan to see it and to go out for pie and coffee afterwards.

The Nashville Repertory Theatre will be performing Waitress through September 22 at TPAC’s Polk Theater. For tickets and more information, see https://nashvillerep.org/waitress.

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G E Tipton

G E Tipton was born in Nashville and raised there and in Spring Hill. She graduated from MTSU in 2017 with a degree in German and a minor in piano performance. She spent three years in Boston before returning to Nashville in 2020. She is married and has a baby boy.

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