Waitress | Theatre Royal Brighton
A warm, wholesome story with lots of toppings!
If you are looking for a musical that can make you laugh one second and cry the next then Waitress is the one for you, it is currently touring the country to celebrate its 10th anniversary and I feel very luckily to be able to say that I have seen it.
Waitress is a musical created by Jessie Nelson and Sara Bareilles, It tells us a story of a Waitress called Jenna, who also happens to be an expert pie maker, craeating delicious pies with invenitve names. Her story isn't as sweet as it sounds though, with an abusive husband and a baby on the way she is looking for a way out, with the help of her two friends and collegues, Becky and Dawn.
Carrie Hope Fletcher takes the role of Jenna, she honestly blew my away with the way she portrayed her. The emotions though the show hit at every point, I felt sad with her, angry for her and loved every second of her story. The vocals on this women are something else and she was able to hit every note perfectly in every song she sang. Evelyn Hoskins plays Dawn, she is funny, charasmatic and maked you feel warm and fuzzy whilst watching, again the vocals were on point and really pulled me in. Taking the role of Becky is Sandra Marvin, she is fiesty and knows how to handle herself, she felt like a friend that everyone needed.
Les Dennis is Old Joe, the owner of the pie shop, a character that you end up loving as the story progresses, Les's accent was amazing as I forgot how he actually sounds. Dr Pomatter played by Dan Partridge was funny, lovable and a joy to have on stage, where as Mark Wiltshire, portraying Earl, the abusive husband really pulled me in a made me hate him for how well he played the part. Mark Anderson, Ogie, was honestly hilarious, his facial expressions and comedy timing were perfect. Cal, played by Dan O'Brian was fantastic, he was funny, and had the right amount of attitude when needed. Nurse Norma, played by Ellie Ruiz Rodriguez needs a special mention, her comedy timing was perfect and helped keep the story from feeling too heavy.
The ensemble made up of Will Arundell, Yochabel Asante, Alice Croft, Jamie Doncaster, Daniel George-Wright, Emma Lucia and David Mairs-Mckenzie were brilliant, bringing the diner to life and creating an atmosphere for us all to feel. The parts where they danced felt prefect to me, not to distracting from the singing but enough to not make it feel out of place.
The musical tracks were amazing, each song worked well in its place, my favourite being 'When he see's me' and 'She used to be mine', both song were sung beautifully and fully brought me into the story. They have a live band on stage at all time, who, if they are not playing come and join the ensemble in the diner. They were absoloutly brilliant and kept playing for a little time after the actors had left the stage. The set for the show, I felt worked well, it wasn't too crowded but enough to know exactly wehre they were meant to be, the diner felt warm and inviting whilst her home felt cold and unloved just like I imgaine Jenna would have felt being there.
I thoroughly enjoyed this show and believe it has become one of my favourites, the music and story were great and I feel like its one I could watch multiple times and not get bored of it. I would highly recommend this musical.
Seat - Gallery A25
★★★★★
Victoria x
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