Automation

Waitress the Musical, like most modern musical productions, features automation in order to move set pieces automatically between scenes through a computer system, rather than manually by the on-stage actors.

Scott Pask‘s set design is mostly set around the diner, or Dr. Pomatter’s office; however, there is one exception that requires the most automation to fully remove Jenna from the diner setting – placing her back at the house she shares with Earl. Diane Paulus said: “We wanted, dramaturgically, to have that not be part of her world at the diner, which in a way is her escape, her sanctuary, her ability to have this other life outside of that home with that husband. That’s a new choice on Broadway that everything just kind of eclipses and it gets very claustrophobic and her house is this little thing forced in front of the audience.”

There are:

  • counterweight flying winches
  • floor track winches
  • rotating trucks
  • venetian blinds
  • proscenium with spinning pie dishes

For the West End production, automation was provided by Absolute Motion Control.