UK and Ireland Tour

The first UK and Ireland tour of Waitress the Musical is due to start in September 2021, having been rescheduled from winter 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The show closed on London’s West End around four months early, due to the pandemic, and will reopen in London, at Wimbledon’s New Wimbledon Theatre, on Saturday 4 September, before embarking on a full tour of the UK and Republic of Ireland throughout 2021 and 2022.

Lucie Jones will reprise her West End role as Jenna Hunterson, as will Sandra Marvin and Evelyn Hoskins as Becky and Dawn respectively; Monique Ashe-Palmer and Ben Morris also join from the West End cast.

Unlike the West End production, the tour production does not include automation, or the large pie cabinets that are to the left and right of the stage. The pie board also includes ‘A Big Ol’ Slice of Live Your Life Pie’, referencing the song ‘Live Your Life‘, written by Nick Cordero, part of the original Broadway cast who passed away from COVID-19 in 2020.

Differences to West End Production and Venue Changes

Some of the amendments made to the show that have been changed for the UK and Ireland tour are as follows – many of these follow changes made for the US tour dates without automation, and also apply to the Broadway restaging:

  • ‘The Negative’ is performed on stage right, rather than stage left, with the toilet cubicle and sink coming on to the opposite side of the stage
  • ‘What Baking Can Do’ has an extended introduction
  • Mini light-up pie cabinets are placed to stage left and stage right for ‘What Baking Can Do’ and ‘I Didn’t Plan It’
  • Dawn describes herself as ‘fervently organised’ instead of ‘enthusiastically American’
  • Ogie is described as a ‘mad clogging elf’, rather than a ‘mad stalking elf’, when he arrives at Joe’s Pie Diner
  • Ogie’s injury, when he placed Paul Revere, resulted in him losing his pinkie
  • During ‘Bad Idea (Reprise)‘, Dawn is now stitching a USA pride flag, which includes colours from the LGBTQ+ rainbow flag, including black and brown to represent people of colour, and the colours of transgender flag
  • The chair in ‘Bad Idea (Reprise)’ does not move, as there is no automation, meaning Ogie carries Dawn off-stage
  • Jenna names the wedding pies she has baked for Dawn and Ogie’s wedding, ‘A Big Ol’ Slice Of Live Your Life Pie’, in honour of Nick Cordero‘s song ‘Live Your Life‘
  • When a young person is not available to star as Lulu, the show is tweaked to feature a lifelike doll in a car seat

As the tour progressed and visited venues of different sizes in the UK, further changes were made to the production:

  • Some venues, such as the Brighton Theatre Royal, Nottingham Royal Concert Hall, and Southend Cliffs Pavilion did not have ceiling capacity for the cherry pie print curtain to be raised and dropped; in these venues, only the standard theatre safety curtain was present
  • The full-size toilet cubicle and sink prop was replaced with a small sink unit during ‘The Negative’ with Jenna leaving the stage when inside the toilet
  • The hanging chandelier for Earl and Jenna’s home was not used in some venues
  • The back cabinet in Earl and Jenna’s home was not used for the second visit in act two
  • The sofa was not pulled to stage right during ‘She Used To Be Mine’ in some venues, instead left in darkness as the rest of the stage brightens around Jenna
  • The hospital backdrop was not used in some venues, due to ceiling capacity restrictions
  • The hospital bed was not manually spun during the giving birth scene of act two (prior to “I don’t want no baby Earl!”)
  • The band were not on stage at some venues, such as Southend Cliffs Pavilion
Opening scene in venues where the cherry pie curtain was not used
End of act 1 in venues where the cherry pie curtain was not used
Opening of act 2 in venues where the cherry pie curtain was not used
Band coming on stage for bows at Southend Cliffs Pavilion
End set with band not present on stage
UK Tour Cast with new US Pride flag in June 2022

Cast

Cast Changes

Opened4 September 2021
Closed20 August 2022

Tour Dates

  • London – New Wimbledon Theatre 4 September – 11 September 2021 (from 11 October – 16 October 2021)
    Lulu – Elsie King, Esma Akar
  • Leeds – Leeds Grand Theatre 14 September – 18 September 2021 (from 30 August – 4 September 2021)
    Lulu – Isabella Jones
  • Crawley – The Hawth 20 September – 25 September 2021
    Lulu – Elsie King
  • Sheffield – Lyceum Theatre 28 September – 2 October 2021 (from 26 January – 30 January 2021)
    Lulu – Isabella Jones, Yasmin Sanger
  • Milton Keynes – Milton Keynes Theatre 4 October – 9 October 2021
    Lulu – Ivy Hurlock, Vivi Piper Belle Quirk
  • Eastbourne – Congress Theatre 18 October – 23 October 2021 (from 15 March – 20 March 2021)
    Lulu – Esmae Cottrell, Mia Savident
  • Sunderland – Sunderland Empire 25 October – 30 October 2021 (from 1 February – 6 February 2021)
  • Manchester – Manchester Opera House 8 November – 20 November 2021 (from 30 November – 5 December 2020)
    Lulu – Annie McGovern, Daisy Slack
  • Aberdeen – His Majesty’s Theatre (from Aberdeen Performing Arts) 23 November – 27 November 2021 (from 23 February – 27 February 2021)
    Lulu – Rosie Whimster
  • Northampton – Royal and Derngate 10 January – 15 January 2022 (from 22 March – 27 March 2021)
    Lulu – Louise Capp, Isabelle Foot
  • Leicester – Curve 24 January – 29 January 2022 (from 1 March – 7 March 2021)
    Lulu – Eadie Mae Johnson, Arna Nigrelli
  • Hull – Hull New Theatre 31 January – 5 February 2022 (from 8 February – 13 February 2021)
    Lulu – Alice Read, Eliza Munyard
  • Bristol – Hippodrome – 8 February – 12 February 2022 (from 29 June – 3 July 2021, originally 9 March – 13 March 2021)
    Lulu – Sophia Reed, Penelope Tovey
  • Woking – New Victoria Theatre 14 February – 19 February 2022 (from 7 June – 12 June 2021)
    Lulu – Mia Millichamp-Long, Mia Savident
  • Bromley – Churchill Theatre 21 February February – 26 February 2022 (from 24 November – 28 November 2020)
    Lulu – Mia Millichamp-Long, Mia Savident
  • Belfast – Grand Opera House 1 March – 5 March 2022
  • Newcastle – Theatre Royal 8 March – 12 March 2022
    Lulu – Freya Goodwin, Sadie Straker
  • Plymouth – Theatre Royal 21 March – 26 March 2022 (from 5 July – 10 July 2021)
    Lulu – Ursula Billing, Beatrix Wilde
  • Llandudno, Wales – Venue Cymru 28 March – 2 April 2022 (from 12 April – 17 April 2021)
    Lulu – Imogen Hollingsworth, Athena-Rae Rell
  • Glasgow – King’s Theatre 12 April – 16 April 2022 (from 21 June – 26 June 2021)
    Lulu – Mila Stripanovsky, Emilia Savage
  • Edinburgh, Scotland – Edinburgh Playhouse 19 April – 23 April 2022 (from 18 January – 22 January 2022 and 12 January – 16 January 2021)
    Lulu – Olivia Gibson, Lily Wallace
  • Oxford – New Theatre Oxford 25 April – 30 April 2022
    Lulu – Louise Capp, Isabelle Foot
  • Liverpool – Liverpool Empire 9 May – 14 May 2022 (from 31 May – 5 June 2021)
    Lulu – Imogen Hollingsworth, Louisa Howcroft
  • Birmingham – Birmingham Hippodrome 16 May – 21 May 2022 (from 11 – 15 May 2021, originally 29 March – 3 March 2021)
    Lulu – Evelyn Kent, Mimi-Kimara Clarson
  • Southampton – Mayflower Theatre 24 May – 28 May 2022 (from 25 May – 29 May 2021)
  • Cardiff, Wales – Wales Millennium Centre 30 May – 4 June 2022 (from 9 August – 14 August 2021)
    Lulu – Charlotte Pickett, Avaya Rees
  • Dublin, Ireland – Bord Gais Energy Theatre 7 June – 18 June 2022 (from 14 November – 21 November 2020)
    Lulu – Lucy Smith, Clara Walsh
  • Wolverhampton – Wolverhampton Grand Theatre 28 June – 2 July 2022 (from 23 August – 28 August 2021)
    Lulu – Evelyn Kent, Mimi-Kimara Clarson
  • Dartford – Orchard Theatre 4 July – 9 July 2022
    Lulu – Iris Winter, Magdalena Becker De Rosenfeld
  • Brighton – Theatre Royal 11 July – 16 July 2022 (from 7 December – 12 December 2020)
    Lulu – Esmae Cottrell, Mia Savident
  • Nottingham – Royal Concert Hall 18 July – 23 July 2022 (from 14 June – 19 June 2021)
    Lulu – Olympia Fowkes, Arna Nigrelli
  • Bradford – Alhambra 25 July – 30 July 2022 (from 1 May – 8 May 2021)
    Lulu – Louisa Howcroft, Yasmin Sanger
  • Canterbury – Marlowe Theatre 1 August – 6 August 2022
    Lulu – Magdalena Becker De Rosenfeld, Lola Smith
  • Southend – Cliffs Pavilion 9 August – 13 August 2022 (from 15 February – 20 February 2021, originally 7 September – 11 September 2021)
    Lulu – Elodie Howland, Orea-Mai Keys
  • Norwich – Theatre Royal Norwich 15 August – 20 August 2022 (from 13 September – 18 September 2021)
    Lulu – Mila Lowe, Grace Smith

Cancelled Dates

  • Ipswich – Ipswich Regent Theatre 17 May – 22 May 2021
  • Stoke-On-Trent – Regent Theatre 29 November – 4 December 2021
  • Inverness – Eden Court 5 April – 9 April 2022
  • Torquay – Princess Theatre 20 June – 26 June 2022 (from 14 March – 19 March 2022)

2000 Squats for Refuge

The UK and Ireland tour cast took part in the Refuge 2000 Squats in November challenge, joining thousands of supporters challenging themselves to do 2000 squats throughout the month of November. Each day at warm up before the show, the cast took part in the challenge to raise awareness and donations for the charity, which supports thousands of women and children every day, experiencing domestic and sexual violence, female genital mutilation, forced marriage, stalking, trafficking, prostitution & so-called ‘honour’ based violence. The company raised £6593 in total, exceeding their goal of £5000.