‘This has all the ingredients required to gladden your soul’
All the ingredients for a perfect show – Waitress is running at Hull New Theatre(Image: hulltheatres.co.uk/Hull Live)
A stage full of people singing about pie. It might not sound like the makings of a show but, believe me, the opening night of a new production in Hull served up a treat of music and song to its eager audience last night.
Hull New Theatre is the home of Waitress this week. The touring musical, in its tenth anniversary year, has all the ingredients required to gladden your soul.
It is funny, it is touching, and the songs are rousing, poignant and a hoot, in equal measure. Waitress has been described elsewhere as a “joyful juggernaut” of a play and I for one was happy to be carried along in its slipstream.
The musical tells the story of waitress Jenna Hunterson (Emma Lucia), who works in the small-town diner, Joe’s Pies, and woos her customers with her pie-making prowess. She enjoys making pies of the day that reflect her mood of the day – it makes for some interesting titles being chalked up on the board – drawing on memories of her dear departed momma as she works in the kitchen.
Jenna is working up the courage (and squirreling away some of her tips) in a bid to leave behind her unhappy marriage to Earl (Mark Willshire). But then she unexpectedly discovers she is pregnant – and a new obstetrician, Dr Jim Pomatter (Dan Partridge), is in town.
It makes for some amusing scenes and I can honestly say I have never seen pineapple-upside-down pie served THAT way! Waitress is very much about friendships and Jenna has her allies in fellow waitresses Becky (Bernadette Bangura) and Dawn (Evelyn Hoskins) who together form the emotional heart of the musical, create some of the biggest laughs and earn some of the loudest applause.
It is these girls she leans on when Jenna’s plan to use her saved tips to enter a lucrative pie-baking contest – with a grand prize that will allow her to strike out on her own – goes awry. And it is seemingly grumpy but kind-hearted Old Joe (Dan O’Brien, in place of Les Dennis last night), whose name is over the diner and is a regular, who comes good for the waitress.
Lucia leads this cast beautifully with her fine singing voice and her moving portrayal of the determined mum-to-be. I’m not going to single out anyone else; the actors, musicians and everyone involved in the stage crafting equally deserve praise for their parts in putting on this feel-good celebration of friendship, motherhood, and the magic of a well-made pie.
If you’re hungry for some of that, Waitress is running until Saturday, September 5. Tickets from Hull City Hall Box Office, call 01482 300 306 or visit hulltheatres.co.uk