Waitress Was Not Exactly What I Ordered

I have things to say about Waitress on Broadway.  All of which I'm worried will make it seem like I absolutely hated it.  When in reality, I actually quite enjoyed it.  It's just that I have questions.  I wanted to love it, but that just didn't happen.  And when the lights came up, and my Broadway buddy was wiping away tears, I was emotionally confused.  I cry at everything, (in fact, I accused her of having a cold-dead heart when she failed to shed a single tear at Falsettos) and yet I couldn't understand why a single person would even tear up, let alone cry at the show I had just seen.  It's all a conundrum I'm still trying to process.

First, above all else, why in the world did they make Earl such a quintessential bad guy? And why did they cast the positively lovely Will Swenson to play this awful excuse for a human being?  The character didn't elicit a single redeeming quality the entire 2 hours.  At no point did I see why Jenna fell in love with him in the first place.  It's also hard to see why, in his most awful moments, not a single person in the diner stood up to him.  The character was so terrible that Will Swenson - who had acted his heart out the entire show - barely gained applause at the curtain call.  I know that that is the mark of a good actor -  the audience being unable to separate the actor from the character, but I have to think that's rough to absorb each night.

Then there was the story itself.  I'm OK with the plot line.  I knew what I was going to see.  I had seen parts of the movie, and pieced together the story. However, there was no warning that it may not be suitable for younger audiences. I'm no prude, and yet there was foul language, and some pretty risque sex scenes.  Both were played for drama and comedy, yet there were some young girls in the audience ready to see Sara Bareilles.  I'm sure their moms didn't appreciate having to explain away what they were seeing. 

The music itself was great.  It worked well to propel the story along, though I'm not sure the little details were fleshed out as well as they could be.  At some point, something fairly major happened that hinged on a plot point I had completely missed, because it was mentioned in a throw-away line, an hour before. A small nod to that particular fact would have been helpful to at least throw into one of the songs.  The choreography was also a little confusing. I've since read that in the movie, the pies that Jenna makes give those eating them the same feelings she's having as she's baking them. That particular detail was missing in the stage show, however I'm pretty sure that's what some of the choreography was trying to convey. Every once in a while, the stage would go black except for a spotlight on Jenna.  She would then bake up some fancifully named pie in her head.  But that's just a guess on my part.

Now see?  You've listened to me vent for the last few paragraphs and I do seem fairly down on this show.  But I promise there are good things.  For instance, Sara Bareilles was fantastic!  She was the perfect Jenna - warm, funny and seemed to be having the time of her life on this stage.  Her voice has always been beautiful, but it really seemed to come alive singing the songs she wrote for this show.  I can't imagine why she's leaving in a few weeks, but after seeing Betsy Wolfe perform, I have a feeling she'll be fabulous too as the next Jenna.

Chris Diamontopoulos was also fabulous as Dr. Pomatter.  He was equally dreamy and adorably awkward.  He was the exact opposite of Will Swenson's Earl, which is exactly what he was supposed to be.  My only slight complaint (sorry, this must be said) was that his lab coat was about 3 sizes too big for him (just an annoyance on my part).  Other than that, I could see why Jenna would fall head over heels for his kind and cute OB/GYN.

So there you have it.  It's not that it was terrible.  No show on Broadway is ever terrible. These artists have beautiful voices and are full of all sorts of talents.  I thoroughly enjoyed my 2 hours, just like I thoroughly enjoy all of my time in a theater.  It's just that I was left with a few more questions than answers.  However, seeing just how fantastic Sara Bareilles was with the part, makes me want to go back just to see how different (or alike) Betsy Wolfe's Jenna will be.  And any show I can see myself visiting again, can't be all bad.