Musical Monday: Waitress

Spoiler warning: Starting with the third paragraph of the review there will be spoilers of the musical Waitress. You’ve been warned. In italics.

I am fortunate enough to see a lot of theater in my life—very fortunate. Last year I saw 40 shows. That being said—I can’t always see everything when it opens and sometimes I don’t even get to see stuff before it closes. For this reason, I’m usually thankful for plays that last on Broadway. Shows that a few years later are still going strong—even if sometimes that means making celebrity casting choices to sell tickets. A couple of weeks ago I finally was able to see Waitress, which having Sara Bareilles in the lead did help a show that had a lot of other issues. 

Ms. Bareilles can write a very catchy song. I really enjoyed the music from Waitress and could see myself listening to the cast album from time to time. Seeing her sing the songs on stage? It made each song really enjoyable. The music was easily the highlight of the show. The only downside having Ms. Bareilles in the role was the giant round of applause she got as soon as she came on the stage. She was very talented but those types of reactions to actors make it a little more difficult for them to get lost in a role. There is always a fear that you are hyper aware it is “actor playing character” rather than just seeing them as the character. Ms. Bareilles was very good in the role, but it is a reaction I prefer not happen in shows just for someone appearing.

While I enjoyed the music, I really didn’t like the story. The titular Waitress, Jenna, gets pregnant from her abusive husband who is given zero redeeming qualities. She goes to her OB/GYN and realizes the woman she expected is replaced by a cute young doctor (who was played in my performance by the talented Gavin Creel.) Jenna gives the doctor a pie she was expecting to give someone she had known for years—fine. The next time they see each other they sing a very catchy song about how all you need is a little taste. The next time they see each other the doctor suggests Jenna come in two hours before his office opens because she says she is scared she is having complications. He tells her there is nothing to be worried about, and they kiss in the office. What does this actually feel like? A doctor, who is married to a woman we believe is wonderfully innocent, taking advantage of his patient he knows to be in a horrible situation because she is scared she is having complications. It felt unbelievably uncomfortable to me.

Fortunately, at the end, Jenna decides not to be with him, but it feels too little too late. She has no agency throughout because she is not given the chance to. Combine this with a character who we meet when a coworker of Jenna says that she doesn’t want to see him at all but he has come to her work despite objections, and the play felt like the two main men we’re designed to cheer for were simply awful dudes. I don’t think this is me being any type of moral police—I am not putting any type of judgment on the infidelity aspects of the show. I just want what could be an interesting show rewritten such that the female characters are actually written to be making choices that feel like choices. I don’t want to be told to cheer for men who seem to be taking advantage of women in bad spots. It felt gross.

Again, Waitress had the ending that gave Jenna a small amount of agency. It was a better ending than I expected in the middle. There is a really interesting story there, but I obviously felt I couldn’t look past this storyline to enjoy it. The upside? It really did have a lot of enjoyable music. With a slight rewrite, I could love the show and not just the music.