West End
London’s West End is the joint most well-known location for theatre goers worldwide, alongside Broadway in New York City.
Waitress the Musical opened for previews at the Adelphi Theatre on Friday 8 February 2019, before officially opening for press night on Thursday 7 March 2019. Competition winners were invited to attend a special preview dress rehearsal night on Thursday 7 February 2019. The set and staging is a replica of the Broadway production, with some minor blocking changes, and some local adjustments (the pie cabinets are lit with magenta, rather than blue light, whilst patrons arrive and during the interval/intermission) and some amendments to the script (Becky says ‘Liverpool’ instead of ‘New Jersey’ when suggesting where Jenna could open a ‘little pie shop’).
The main cast members were finalised in January 2018; aso of 4 January, only the roles of Joe, Male Swing #1 (Max Kumangai track) and Lulu, were unconfirmed. Rehearsals took place from Monday 7 January 2018, starting at the main hall in the American Church in London, on Tottenham Court Road, with David Massey working as Company Manager and Jordan James Taylor as Production Coordinator. Rehearsals took place with Diane Paulus; Sara Bareilles was unable to attend, as she was starring in the Broadway production, but flew over to London for the last week of rehearsals, ensuring she was present on the night it opened for previews. Sara personally introduced the show on 8 February 2019, and came on stage after the show ended for an impromptu thank you and acapella performance of part of her then-latest single, “Armor.”
The entire production team behind the musical, including Diane Paulus, Jessie Nelson and Sara Bareilles came on stage at the end of the official London press night performance on 7 March, with Sara leading the three tiers of the theatre in a three-part harmony of ‘sugar, butter, flour’ before she sang part of ‘What’s Inside‘. Others in attendance included Andrew Lloyd-Webber, Beverley Knight and Carrie Hope-Fletcher.
Guests who visited the diner during the preview period were issued with a special commemorative ‘Thanks for Being a Waitress Pie-oneer!’ pin badge.
The show was due to close on 4 July 2020, however, due to Boris Johnson advising that people should avoid theatres due to the global Coronavirus pandemic on the evening of Monday 16 March 2020, the Adelphi Theatre closed shortly before the scheduled performance at 7:30pm that evening.
On 27 March 2020, producers announced that it looked unlikely that the show would be able to re-open before 4 July 2020, leaving the final West End performance of Waitress being 14 March 2020, the last night that Sara Bareilles and Gavin Creel were part of the cast, with the duo, and Natasha Yvette Williams, who only joined the cast that week, all leaving the show and returning to the USA due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Cast
Original West End Cast
- Jenna – Katharine McPhee
- Dr. Pomatter – David Hunter
- Becky – Marisha Wallace
- Dawn – Laura Baldwin
- Cal – Stephen Leask
- Ogie – Jack McBrayer
- Earl – Peter Hannah
- Joe – Shaun Prendergast
- Lulu – Fifi Christophers, Arabella Duffy
- Nurse Norma – Kelly Agbowu
- Ensemble
‘Apron Boy’ – Nathaniel Morrison
Francine – Olivia Moore
Father – Chris McGuigan
Mother/Minister – Charlotte Riby
Club Knocked Up – Nicole Raquel Dennis
‘Purse Boy’ – Piers Bate - Swings – Michael Hamway, Mark Willshire, Sarah O’Connor, Leanne Pinder
- Jenna (Understudy) – Olivia Moore, Sarah O’Connor
- Dr. Pommater (Understudy) – Michael Hamway
- Becky (Understudy) – Kelly Agbowu, Charlotte Riby
- Dawn (Understudy) – Olivia Moore, Sarah O’Connor
- Cal (Understudy) – Chris McGuigan, Mark Willshire
- Ogie (Understudy) – Michael Hamway, Nathaniel Morrison
- Earl (Understudy) – Mark Willshire
- Joe (Understudy) – Chris McGuigan
Cast Changes
- Jenna – Katharine McPhee was replaced by Lucie Jones 17 June 2019
- Ogie – Jack McBrayer was replaced by Blake Harrison 17 June 2019
- Dawn – Laura Baldwin was replaced for a limited engagement by Ashley Roberts 17 June 2019
- Dawn – Laura Baldwin returned, replacing Ashley Roberts 12 August 2019
- Joe – Shaun Prendergast was replaced by Andrew Boyer 12 August 2019
- Ogie – Blake Harrison was replaced by Joe Sugg 7 September 2019
- Earl – Peter Hannah was replaced by Tamlyn Henderson 7 September 2019
- Ensemble – Nicole Raquel Dennis was replaced by Cindy Belliot 7 September 2019
- Becky – Marisha Wallace left the cast 11 October 2019
- Becky – Sandra Marvin joined the cast 19 October 2019
- Ensemble – Chris McGuigan was replaced by Ben Morris 16 November 2019
- Cal – Stephen Leask was replaced by Richard Taylor Woods 25 November 2019
- Nurse Norma – Kelly Agbowu was replaced by Rosemary Nkrumah 2 December 2019
- Ogie – Joe Sugg was replaced by Joel Montague 2 December 2019
- Dawn – Laura Baldwin was replaced by Hannah Tointon 2 December 2019
- Swings – Michael Hamway was replaced by Matthew Rowland 2 December 2019
- Ensemble – Charlotte Riby was replaced by Laura Selwood 2 December 2019
- Becky – Sandra Marvin was replaced by Marisha Wallace 6 January 2020
- Ensemble – Cindy Belliot was replaced by Monique Ashe-Palmer 9 January 2020
- Dawn – Hannah Tointon was replaced by Evelyn Hoskins 27 January 2020
- Jenna – Lucie Jones was replaced by Desi Oakley due to illness 13 January 2020
- Jenna – Desi Oakley was replaced for a limited engagement by Sara Bareilles 27 January 2020
- Dr. Pomatter – David Hunter was replaced for a limited engagement by Gavin Creel 27 January 2020
- Becky – Marisha Wallace was replaced by Natasha Yvette Williams 9 March 2020
- Lulu – Fifi Christophers and Arabella Duffy
Juliette Clemens-Lary, Annabelle Jones
Lucia De Wan, Madison Worley
Milestones
On 6 May 2019, the London production celebrated their 100th performance, reporting:
- 800 slices of pie eaten
- 1700 cups of coffee poured
- 230lbs of flour used
- 2000 songs sung
- 200 eggs cracked
Cast Album Karaoke
Following the success of Cast Album Karaoke evenings on Broadway, the West End production announced that they too would be holding monthly karaoke sessions, hosted by the cast and special guests.
On-Sale Pies
Mini Pie Jars were sold from the foyers at the Adelphi Theatre, based on the originals made by Cute As Cake in New York for the Broadway production. The original West End pie jars were created by The Theatre Café, London’s first-ever theatre-themed coffee shop. Three pie jars were available:
- Apple Crumble
- Chocolate Salted Caramel
- Banoffee
On 20 June 2019, a new partnership was announced with London bakery Bread Ahead, known for its Borough Market, Chelsea and Soho bakeries. Three revamped pie jars were available:
- Apple Crumble
- Chocolate Salted Caramel
- Lemon and Raspberry
Phone Message
As is usual with all Broadway and West End shows, Waitress has a pre-show message to ‘Now Turn Off Your Cellphone‘, recorded especially by Sara Bareilles, set to her song, “Cassiopeia” from her 2013 album, “The Blessed Unrest.”
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Following the success of supporting Breast Cancer Awareness Month on Broadway, on Friday 18 October 2019, known a #WearItPinkDay, the London production changed the colour of the waitresses costumes from blue to pink, raising awareness for Breast Cancer Now.
Promotion
Selected members of the Waitress cast have promoted the show at various events.
Launch Party, Ronnie Scott’s, Soho – 25 September 2018
West End veteran, Ruthie Henshall, hosted an official launch event at jazz club, Ronnie Scott’s in Soho, introducing producer, Barry Weissler, and composer, Sara Bareilles, to the stage to talk about the show’s opening in London. Guests were served savoury pies (Chicken and Chorizo, 4 Bean Chilli, and Beef and Horseradish) and sweet pies (Apple Crumble, Banoffee, and Strawberry and Cream), alongside drinks on arrival and were given a copy of Sara’s album “What’s Inside: Songs from Waitress.” Sara performed her hit singles ‘Love Song’ and ‘Brave’ at the piano, before Gavin Creel joined her to perform ‘Bad Idea‘ and ‘You Matter To Me‘, ending with a solo performance of ‘She Used To Be Mine‘ and a Q&A from influences and journalists.
Yamaha Music London, Soho – 27 April 2019
Katharine McPhee, David Hunter, Laura Baldwin and Marisha Wallace appeared at the Yamaha Music London store in Soho, performing ‘When He Sees Me‘, ‘I Didn’t Plan It‘ and ‘It Only Takes A Taste‘, as well as having a post-song Q&A, where they answered questions from the audience and from online fan questions. Katharine had her husband-to-be, David Foster, on FaceTime during the show so he was able to be present too.
TKTS Box Office, Leicester Square – 22 October 2019
Lucie Jones, David Hunter, Laura Baldwin, Joe Sugg, Charlotte Riby and Olivia Moore took part in an surprise outdoor performance at the TKTS Box Office in Leicester Square, performing ‘Opening Up‘ and ‘It Only Takes A Taste‘.