Stage Sounds: Waitress

I got to see Waitress at Fair Park Music Hall in Dallas about four years ago. I knew absolutely nothing about it going in and had no idea what to expect, but I was completely sold by intermission. The music is incredible, the characters are fascinating, and the story hooks you immediately.

Waitress is a musical with a book by Jessie Nelson and music & lyrics by Sara Bareilles. Inspired by the late Adrienne Shelly's 2007 film of the same name, the show opened in 2015 at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts before opening on Broadway in 2016 at The Brooks Atkinson Theatre (located on W 47th Street), where it remained in residence until 2020 after over 1,500 performances. The show returned to Broadway in 2021 for a three-month post-COVID limited engagement at The Ethel Barrymore Theatre (also located on W 47th Street). The original Broadway run was nominated for four Tony Awards in 2016 (Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical, and Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical), and while it didn't win any of them it did win Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical (Christopher Fitzgerald as Ogie) at the 2016 Drama Desk Awards and the 2016 Outer Critics Circle Awards as well as earning a nomination for Best Musical Theatre Album at the 2017 Grammys. Apart from Broadway, the show has so far been seen international productions in Argentina, Finland, Ireland, Japan, Poland, The Philippines, and The United Kingdom. There haven't yet been talks of turning the musical into its own film, but the 2007 film stars Keri Russell as Jenna, Nathan Fillion as Dr. Pomatter, and Cheryl Hines as Becky.

As in previous posts, I will focus on one song for each main cast member. In the case of this particular show, I will only be discussing the original Broadway cast recording, but Sara Bareilles did also release an album of herself performing the songs from the show titled What's Inside: Songs from Waitress in 2015. There will be honorable mentions again because it was so difficult to pick just one song per character, and if I talked about every song I wanted to I'd be writing for a week straight. Therefore, here we go! Warning: spoilers ahead.

Jenna Hunterson (Mezzo-Soprano/Alto)

Spotlight Song: She Used to Be Mine

Honorable Mentions: What's Inside; Opening Up; The Negative; You Will Still Be Mine; A Soft Place to Land; Bad Idea; Dear Baby; Contraction Ballet; Everything Changes

Original Broadway Cast (2016): Jessie Mueller

Tony winner Jessie Mueller does an incredible job as Jenna, really making you feel for her and understand her decisions as she navigates this turbulent nine months of her life. I think it goes without saying that her stand out song is absolutely Act 2's She Used to Be Mine, where she sings about dealing with her life not going the way she'd hoped it would. It's hard for me to listen to this song without crying, but it's beautiful and relatable in aa way that sticks with you after the show is over and has (rightfully so) become a staple in many singers' show tune repertoire.

It’s not simple to say/That most days, I don’t recognize me/That these shoes and this apron, that place and it patrons/Have taken more than I gave them/It’s not easy to know/I’m not anything like I used to be, although/It’s true I was never attention’s sweet center/I still remember that girl/She’s imperfect, but she tries/She is good, but she lies/She is hard on herself/She is broken and won’t ask for help/She is messy, but she’s kind/She is lonely most of the time/She is all of this mixed up and baked in a beautiful pie/She is gone, but she used to be mine

Dr. Jim Pomatter (Tenor)

Spotlight Song: Bad Idea

Honorable Mentions: It Only Takes a Taste; You Matter to Me

Original Broadway Cast (2016): Drew Gehling

I struggle with Jim because if he wasn't so charming, he'd be almost as crappy of a person as Earl, but because he's nice and handsome and kind to Jenna we see him as more of a knight in shining armor. Drew Gehling does a great job playing the part, but to be honest this isn't the best show if you're looking for really good, strong male characters (it is, however, a great show for independent, strong, good female leads). What I will say is that Act 1's Bad Idea is a banger of a duet, and Gehling and Mueller's voices blend perfectly together on the cast recording. There's some really intricate, difficult vocal runs in here that are very impressive and I know took a lot of work for them to nail down together, and over all this is a great song to listen to and a great way to end the show's first half.

It’s a bad idea, me and you/I know, I totally agree/It’s a bad idea, me and you/I’ve never known anything so true/It’s a terrible idea, me and you/You have a wife, you have a husband/You’re my doctor, you’ve got a baby coming/It’s a bad idea, me and you/Let’s just keep kissing ’til we come to/Heart, stop racing, let’s face it, mistakes like this/Will make worse what was already pretty bad/Mind, stop running, it’s time we just let this thing go/It was a pretty good bad idea, wasn’t it, though

Earl Hunterson (Tenor/Baritone)

Spotlight Song: You Will Still Be Mine

Original Broadway Cast (2016): Nick Cordero

I remember watching this show on its National Tour and feeling so uneasy and even afraid when Earl was on stage, which is a testament to how good a villain he is and how well his actors portray him. He is a genuine piece of poop of a human being, and all you want throughout the show is for Jenna to get away from him in any way, shape, or form because she deserves so much better than him. Act 1's You Will Still Be Mine, the one and only duet between Earl and Jenna, is a spectacular villain song because it sounds like a classic, catchy country-rock bop with such a sinister undertone of Earl demanding that Jenna not love their baby more than him when it's born. The late Tony nominee Nick Cordero had such a great voice for this part, and I think it's a some that it's the only bit he gets to sing throughout the whole show.

Remember my clean shave, back in our old days/We were just kids/I had my six string and you had your own thing/Though I don’t remember what it is/I wrote you love songs and you liked that sad one/So I played it all the time/What was that one line, something ‘bout sunshine/I sang it every night/Where the sun don’t shine, nah, that can’t be it/When the sun won’t shine, what was it, baby/’Til the sun don’t shine, you will still be mine/That’s right

Becky (Mezzo-Soprano/Alto)

Spotlight Song: The Negative

Honorable Mentions: Opening Up; A Soft Place to Land; I Didn't Plan It; Everything Changes

Original Broadway Cast (2016): Keala Settle

Becky is Jenna's fellow waitress and good friend who is played in the original cast by the incomparably talented Keala Settle, who you may know better as Lettie the Bearded Lady in 2017's The Greatest Showman. She, like Jenna, is a complex character who makes impulsive decisions that not everyone agrees with, but you can see where she's coming from and why she went that route at the same time. Anything Settle sings ends up turning to pure gold (hello, This Is Me), but my favorite song Becky is involved in and my bonafide favorite song in the whole show is Act 1's The Negative, where Becky joins Jenna and Dawn in a trio as Jenna takes a pregnancy test. This song is so funny, the harmonies between Settle, Mueller, and Glenn are perfection, and it sets the comedic tone of the show perfectly.

Hmm, come on, honey, you’ve waited long enough/Get to it and do it, well, okay, girls, enough/You know what we mean/I hope you drank enough this morning/Come on, sweetie, it’s better to know/We’ll be right here with you so/It’s no or it’s yes/But either way, you gotta take the test/A squat and a squeeze, a prayer and a please, it’s nothing/A stick and a line, just one of ‘em, if I’m lucky/A pot and a piss, here we go, sis/And we’ll keep our focus on the negative/Read the instructions/Se suede saber la duración de la/English/Do not insert the test stick into your vagina/Wow, thank you, Dawn

Dawn (Mezzo-Soprano/Alto)

Spotlight Song: When He Sees Me

Honorable Mentions: Opening Up; The Negative; A Soft Place to Land; Never Ever Getting Rid of Me; I Love You Like a Table; Everything Changes

Original Broadway Cast (2016): Kimiko Glenn

I think Dawn is my favorite character in the show; she's funny and sweet and kind and a good friend, and has some really great musical moments throughout the show. Dawn takes a little longer than either Becky or Jenna to tap into her impulsive side, but when she faces her anxieties about dating head on and gives in to the moment she discovers just how great an unplanned life can be. Act 1's When He Sees Me tells us pretty much everything we need to know about Dawn as the funny and talented Kimiko Glenn sings about her nerves regarding online dating. Dawn is all about control, and taking that leap of faith into the unknown is so hard for her that when she does it you can't help but cheer for her.

I stick with real things, usually facts and figures/When information's in its place, I minimize the guessing game/Guess what, I don't like guessing games/Or when I feel things before I know the feelings/How am I supposed to operate if I'm just tossed around by fate/Like on an unexpected date/With a stranger who might talk too fast/Or ask me questions about myself before I've decided that/He can ask me questions about myself, he might sit too close/Or call the waiter by his first name, or eat Oreos/But eat the cookie before the cream/But what scares me the most, what scares me the most/Is what if when he sees me, what if he doesn't like it/What if he runs the other way and I can't hide from it/What happens then/If when he knows me, he's only disappointed/What if I give myself away to only get it given back/I couldn't live with that/So, I'm just fine inside my shell-shaped mind/This way I get the best view/So that when he sees me, I want him to

Joe (Tenor/Baritone)

Spotlight Song: Take It From an Old Man

Original Broadway Cast (2016): Dakin Matthews

Joe (or Josie, if you've seen a production where this character is a woman) doesn't have the biggest part in the musical, but watching him go from just the grumpy owner of the diner to someone who loves Jenna like his own daughter and believes in her completely is a sweet journey. Longtime stage presence Dakin Matthews pours his heart and soul into Joe's only song, Act 2's Take It From an Old Man (renamed Take It From an Old Ma'am when June Squibb stepped into the role) as he imparts worldly wisdom on Jenna as they dance together at Ogie and Dawn's wedding.

Take it from an old man/Time’s just sand slipping past/We wanna hold it in our hands/But no one ever sees what falls through the cracks/Take it from an old man/My mistakes have made me, and I am what I am/And thought I don’t believe in silver linings/I believe there’s something in you/Something good is trying to break through/You might have to fight the good fight/And when you think you can’t, you can take it from an old man

Ogie Anhorn (Tenor)

Spotlight Song: Never Ever Getting Rid of Me

Honorable Mentions: I Love You Like A Table

Original Broadway Cast (2016): Christopher Fitzgerald

Christopher Fitzgerald (who I've listened to since he was Boq in Wicked) ended up being the only member of the original cast who won an award for his performance, and I personally think it was VERY well deserved. Ogie, in real life, would likely be a total creep, but watching his relationship with Dawn bloom and his hopeless, romantic optimism makes him the most likable male character in thee show. Act 1's Never Ever Getting Rid of Me is I think my second favorite song in the show as Ogie tries to wheedle a second date out of Dawn at the diner; it's hilarious, it requires a lot of skill as an actor and singer because of how many words it has in a short amount of time, and it's a total bop.

Dawn, I will never let you let me leave, I promise I’m not lying/Go ahead, ask anybody who was seen me trying/I’m not going, if it seems like I did, I’m probably waiting outside/Such a stubborn man, you’ll likely never meet another/When we have our family dinner, you can ask my mother/She’s the best, you’ll learn more about her on our family history test/I’m gonna do this right, show you I’m not moving/Wherever you go, I won’t be far to follow/Oh, I’m gonna love you so/You’ll learn what I already know/I love you means you’re never, ever, ever getting rid of me/You can try, oh, but I/I love you means you’re never, ever, ever getting rid of me

Cal (Baritone)

Spotlight Song: Opening Up

Original Broadway Cast (2016): Eric Anderson

Cal is definitely a smaller featured role in the show as the diner's main cook/Becky's love interest, but that doesn't mean he and actor Eric Anderson should be left out here. He gets to sing the most in Act 1's Opening Up and has some delightfully funny lines to add to the number, and the song as a whole is awesome and has some beautiful harmonies from the cast.

Jenna! What's the special pie today?/Uh, deep shit blueberry bacon/Deep shit?/Ye- uh, dish! Deep dish. Sorry, Cal!/C’mon, girl/The day starts like the rest we've seen/Another carbon copy of an old routine/Days keep coming/One out, one in/They keep coming/And make the coffee strong enough to chew!

If you're relatively new to musicals, I personally think Waitress is a great one to try out because it's so much fun while being a great stage production. Happy listening, and see ya'll next week!