Waitress - Adelphi Theatre / U.K. Tour / Cinema

Oh nice! I had a ticket for central row D of the dress circle saved but had to take a call, and now all the tix are taken for now 😐

There’s also £25 rush tickets for stalls row C at Come From Away available right now! 

Yeah I’ll check later thanks! 🙌

I was offered row H also when I checked at 10.00.

I’m not sure why you’ve taken exception to my post personally as it doesn’t quote you or particularly reference what you have said. 🤷‍♂️

amp09 looks like they’re all done for the day! Oh well, good to know these are now potentially available? It’s the karaoke tonight, are you gonna put your name forward?! 😜

Wow! The hype is real. Too late to review now but more thoughts tomorrow.

Just wow!

Anthony I swear to god I didn't see you, but apparently you were four seats to my right?! I didn't check the board before going or I'd have known. Gutted!

I took advantage of TodayTix Rush and I think it's a good move because there's definitely a growing number of (particularly younger) theatre-goers who just browse TodayTix and book whatever they can get a good deal on. This will hopefully unlock another audience for them they can ride through until the tourist peak with. 

Pies! Lots of pies! Recipes for pies! Buy a pie at the interval! Look at the spinning pies! The curtain is a pie! Look Jenna is thinking of a new pie! I honestly don't really ever eat pies, maybe I should, these characters seem to love them. I knew a lot of the music through my boyfriend, who has been obsessed with the soundtrack for over 2 years now, so I had a lot of recognition of big songs whilst still not having a clue about most of them, nor the story. We got off to a bad start when we sat down in the theatre and the girls behind us started audibly talking about how we were blocking their view, the lack of rake obviously presenting problems. There was the classic phone ringtone going off for a whole minute midshow, the guy in front of us kept checking his messages and left his phone off silent, a women to the right of him eating a crinkly bag of something, a bit of chat from people behind us who hadn't managed to finish their conversation at the interval apparently. It never ends.

I am definitely on the side of the KMP fans, she definitely isn't the most emotive person on stage, but I was totally willing to believe this was an intentional part of her characterisation of Jenna, that she is a bit demure, that she isn't running around sobbing and smiling and hamming it up in every scene. She sang beautifully, I was really impressed. I didn't have any big problems with the rest of the cast, although I agree that a couple of the lads can't really sing. I criticised Sweet Charity over it, so it's only fair I do it here too - London is one of the world capitals in musical theatre, there is no excuse for anyone being cast that cannot both act and sing. I got over it though. The direction, design and all the rest of it were pretty good as well, although I did spot a lighting cue being taken too early and rapidly reversed. It happens so rarely that it's fun to see theatre pros making mistakes sometimes.

I admit, as has been discussed previously, I too got a bit tense over the doctor-kissing-patient moment because in the healthcare world that is a massive problem, but it seems from responses here that most people aren't too fussed about the realities of this, or any of the problems the characters throw up. The domestic violence bit also struck me as being a bit too smoothed over. I appreciate Jenna deals with that in the end, and they presumably want to keep it from being drawn into too-serious or too-painful a topic, but I think it would still be congruent for a show like this to really show the seriousness of domestic violence, to take a moment and really dramatise it. I suspect the dramatic problem you'd run into is that if you make it too visceral then there would feel like less of a choice for Jenna, whom we need a bit of tension from as to what she'll do. Sometimes these sorts of things really bug me and I end up not enjoying the show because of characters doing things and the consequences of them not really being apparent, but Waitress sort of gets away with it. Tonally it seems to keep it all together, and whilst sometimes it is too saccharine or too bawdy or too panto, I ended up walking out quite satisfied. I wasn't expecting a particularly serious show, and they don't give you one, and that's fine. It's a matter of expectations.

It's good fun, and it deserves to not have as many empty seats as it did. I hope it picks up.

So, Waitress,

What a bit of an enigma this show was for me.

An enigma because I know very little about it.

I haven't seen the film, despite having the cast recording, I sill haven't listened to this right through- it on my i-Tines library and even now and then a song will appear amongst the dozens of other cast recordings.

I also haven't read to much about it on this board, except for casting so list night went in fairly blind. I would assure you that I haven't been living under a rock.

And yesterday was the first time I have ever been successful with the TodayTix £25 rush tickets.

Sometimes it's good to go in a little blind, don't you think?

Firstly, in the foyer, I couldn't help but smell the scent off freshly baked pies being pumped throughout.

As previously stated, my seat was great however nothing could prepare me for how brilliant this show was and what a great evening lay ahead of me. I was grinning throughout.

The show moved along at a steady pace, with the perfect blend of comedy, sensitivity, pathos, character development and songs. Simple, yet effective choreography and great sets.

Subtle lighting created an ambient mood and when the blew the flour in the air, such beauty.

Each character was completely believable and whilst you were taken along with Jenna's journey, though the highs and lows, you suddenly find yourself caring for each of these characters plight.

Even the character of Jenna's husband. I have been think about this today. Yes, we may not like his behaviour, but we also see his vulnerability and surely this is a reflection of how well the actor is portraying the role?

Personally I didn't have a problem with Jenna's affair with the doctor and I love the development of his character via the dropping of pairs, fumbling, tripping over, etc. And with regards to the nurse, this is a classic example of making the most of a small role.

And Jack McBrayer as Ogie, just hilarious. What an odd little man this actor is, yet so perfect for this role and show. The comedy relief was a light distraction from Jenna's plight.

With regards to the songs, as I said, I know some of the song and an extremely familiar with 'the song' from the show, She Use To Be Mine. I first truly saw this song performed by Megan Hilty at her concert at Cadogen Hall.

Isn't interesting how when you've never seen the show how you picture in your head how it will play out on stage. (Believe it or not) my interpretation of this song was about a mother who, in some way, had lost her daughter.

So, when I saw it beautifully staged and sung last night, in contact, it blew my interpretation out of the water.

I was genuinely moved and could not have anticipated how much so.

Marcus Bringstoke was in the audience last night, two rows in front of me, making out with his blonde girlfriend in the intermission.

Oh, and rather surprisingly and unexpectedly last night when the show finished, they held the Cast Album Karaoke, hosted by Laure Baldwin and Chizzy Akudolu where audience members were selected at random to come on stage with the cast after the show to sing songs from the show. This black lady got selected and came up and smashed She used To Be Mine with such gusto, that the cast themselves were flinging on their phone and she got a standing ovation from the audience themselves. You can view this performance at WaitressLondon on Instagram.

Of course I was soooooo tired this morning and all day, but so worth it Needless to say this tired Aussie is going to bed early.

Sugar, butter, flour

I may very well have had a few drinks this evening but I just got goosebumps and teared up at that!

It does read like they're getting desperate.

Cute Whatsonstage vid from the Waitress karaoke / completion the other night!

Is this the worst kept secret since Sheridan Smith doing Legally Blonde? I mean she was on a billboard in Times Square!