By JESSICA NEU
Sugar. Butter. Flour. At first glance, they seem like simple ingredients—Staples of any household. However, for Jenna (Zanny Laird), these are the ingredients to life.
Making its regional debut, Pittsburgh Musical Theater serves up a heaping helping of life, love, and resilience in the hit musical Waitress. Written by Jessie Nelson, with music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles, and directed by Tim Seib, Waitress tells the story of Jenna, an unhappily married woman working long hours at a diner that specializes in pies. Jenna is responsible for making dozens of fresh pies every day. Although she is extremely talented, she still finds herself scraping for a sense of happiness. Much to her shock and dismay, Jenna finds herself very unexpectedly pregnant by her abusive husband, Earl (Corey Rieger). Her two best friends and coworkers, Becky (La’Nette Wallace) and Dawn (Catherine Baird) provide ongoing moral support and help her through her emotions and morning sickness.
At her first OBGYN appointment, Jenna is stunned to hear that her regular doctor has retired. Dr. Pomatter (Brett Goodnack) will now be Jenna’s doctor. The two quickly make an undeniable connection despite them both being married. Jenna’s life is indeed stickier than sugar and messier than spilled flour. Her turmoil dates back to her childhood. Much like her husband Earl, Jenna’s father was an alcoholic who abused her mother. When her father became exceptionally irate, Jenna’s mother would keep her in the kitchen and have her bake. Jenna formed her fondest childhood memories baking with her mother, who has since passed away.
She carries that craft into her adulthood, and patrons sing the praises of her pies daily. At first, the shop’s property owner, Joe (Danny Herman), appears to cut from the cloth as Archie Bunker but evolves into Waitress‘ quiet and endearing hero. Jenna desperately wants to enter a pie-baking contest with a top cash prize of $20,000, but her abusive marriage is a massive barrier to her independence.
Waitress is a bit formulaic in nature and has the framework of a classic American musical. Two subplots involve Dawn and her newfound love, Ogie (Quinn Patrick Shannon), and Becky’s tryst with diner chef Cal (Ben Sheedy). Both subplots and Jenna’s journey focus on the female experience and bring real, relatable characters to center stage.
Sugar. Butter. Flour. Jenna’s pies are more than just food. They are emblematic of all that life has to offer. Each of her creations has a unique name, such as “jump in without a net bottomless pie.” Added to the flour, butter, and sugar are emotions, experiences, and memories you want to keep, and others you wish to burn.
Laird conquers Bareilles’ soaring score – a blend of Bareilles’ signature popular music style and traditional musical theater. Laird incorporates all the emotional subtleties necessary to make Jenna the perfect empowered protagonist for whom we never stop rooting. She shines throughout the show culminating in the well-known solo number, “She Used to Be Mine.”
Everyone in the company handles their role comfortably and easily, providing the vibe you would expect from a local diner. Baird and Shannon are the most delightfully quirky odd couple. Wallace and Sheedy are raunchy yet tender, and Wallace’s female empowerment is contagious. Goodnack is especially awkward but deeply relatable in his conflicting feelings between Jenna and his wife. His lovely falsetto makes the poignant second-act number, “You Matter to Me,” all the more morally conflicting.
Waitress fits perfectly into the regional theater world. Through joyous harmonies, snarky one-liners, and heart, the company reminds us that although every day might seem like a carbon copy of the one before, we must never stop working on our “pursuit of happiness pie.” Sugar. Butter. Flour.
Despite the location of the scenes, scenic designer Tucker Topel and prop master Amber Kocher always leave some of Jenna’s pies visible to the audience. These pies are more than just ingredients. They are emblematic of Jenna’s life – of our lives. Led by equal parts of Laird’s self-doubt and unrelenting fortitude, Waitress reminds us that “even doubt can be delicious.” When life seems impossible, reach for an ingredient way in the back of your cupboard that you long forgot you had and make something remarkable. Because “where there’s a whisk, there’s a way.”
Sugar. Butter. Flour. Common ingredients, of course. But if you stir in conviction, great friends, a snarky yet soft owner, childhood memories, and fierce resilience, these common ingredients mix together to create the most delicious tale of empowerment and liberation you will see all season.
TICKETS AND DETAILS
Pittsburgh Musical Theater’s production of Waitress runs now through May 25, 2025 at the Gargaro Theater in Pittsburgh’s West End. Tickets at: https://pittsburghmusicals.com/waitress
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