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

Lucie Jones told us at her concert tonight that she’s in the middle of the audition process for Wicked so it would seem that this really isn’t her upcoming project. She didn’t even sing She Used To Be Mine. As much as I love Lucie, I actually think her Jenna would really soar when she’s a few years older and that right now she’s the perfect age to give us an incredible Elphaba!

Someone on BroadwayWorld formus said that it was their understanding that she was signed up to lead the Broadway company of Waitress to the point that they did a photoshoot and that talks fell apart at the last minute. I suppose with the absolute state the casting of this show seems to be over in New York, this wouldn’t be too hard to believe.

Mess at me thinking that this was about David Foster.

But if talks fell apart for Broadway, wouldn't the logical thing be for her to take WE instead seeing as that needs a new Jenna soon as well?

This is all very weird isn't it.

I wonder who will play Jenna now then? Maybe KMP will stay on longer, though i can't see it.

Last night was my first visit to the pie diner since I saw Sara in the role of Jenna on Broadway two years ago. Overall I loved it. Katharine is an astounding leading lady, and her voice is perfectly suited to the score, Marisha and Laura are equally as brilliant too, as is David Hunter. As everyone else has commented I felt very uncomfortable hearing Jack’s attempts at singing and I’m honestly baffled at his casting. This entire show is a huge slice of American pie itself, for which I absolutely love - I was still thinking about it this morning.

The pies. Were not good. The apple pie was slimy and heavily spiced to the point that it was overwhelming any taste of apple, I was incredibly disappointed as I loved my pie in NYC.

I hope this picks up soon because it deserves to stick around but I can’t help feeling that the choice of theatre is going to be it’s London demise (I also feel Groundhog Day would’ve struggled to fill those seats nightly too if I’m honest).

If they did decent view day seats they would be a huge incentive for their fans (of which there are many) to come back and again. If the choice is to sit at the back here or get a front row day seat elsewhere they will go elsewhere.

It is unusual, it’s hardly Hamilton or Book of Mormon (when it first opened) in terms of hype and demand. I haven’t booked yet, as I’ve been waiting for more reasonable deals. Even the dayseats don’t sound great. Making the show unaffordable to many - or less attractively priced, compared to other shows - is clearly backfiring. It will be such a shame if they force themselves to close.

Saw the matinee of this yesterday. All levels were open and Laura was back on (and sounding great).

I must say I left feeling slightly underwhelmed though and found it quite an average show after the hype. David, Marisha and Laura all did well with what they had but it's just not a very strong book or score if you take out the couple of obvious highlights (SUTBM, YMTM). A lot of the sex scene stuff in the second act felt really immature and Ogie didn't come anywhere near funny. KMP sang like an angel but performance-wise was very expressionless and one-note. I really wanted to love it but at least half the score isn't memorable and the show feels a bit lost in that big space. I don't think a change in leading lady will help give it much of a longer life and it's not one I'd see again.

Jeremy Jordan joining the cast it seems! (Broadway, not here)

Oh that's not fair.

This is obviously a factor also, but, and I know I keep coming back to this, the main issue for me is that the Adelphi is just a v large venue and that makes it seem like it’s not doing so well even if it comparatively is. Sure it’s not a Book of Mormon or DEH in terms of hype, but it was never going to be. 

The Phoenix’s capacity is just over 1,000 and the Adelphi’s is 1,500. So you’re basically asking Waitress to sell 50% more tickets than CFA for each performance which is a big ask. Sat night for instance there were still 20/30 tickets or so left for Come From Away a couple hours or so before curtains up (I went again last min and got a standing ticket cos the remaining seat tix were so expensive still - 3rd time now 😬). There were maybe 150-200 tickets left for Waitress, so 1,300 + tickets were still sold for that performance (which is still more than most west end theatre capacities). If Waitress had taken a smaller venue I think it’s fair to assume we wouldn’t be having this convo.

And of course I know the argument will be that they shouldn’t have taken on such a large venue they may struggle to fill given that it’s a show that doesn’t have a recognisable name or story (or Hamilton or DEH-esque hype) but I guess a lot of it is circumstances and are you really gonna turn down the chance to take the Adelphi if it’s presented to you? So despite the good reviews (average 4 star and strong reviews for the cast) i personally think it’ll be size that will be main factor that may kill the show early, which makes me sad because along with CFA it’s my fave musical on the West End right now. 

It’s funny because when she announced her mini-tour she insinuated that she had a big exciting project coming up but then when she was interviewed on BBC Radio Wales last week she said something more along the lines of she “might” have something exciting coming up rather than a definite job. So I guess maybe something could have gone wrong with Waitress, maybe Kat wants to extend for another 3 months and they don’t need her now? As far as Wicked goes, she just said she’s in the middle of auditioning for it again and “we’ll see what happens”, I can’t see why she’d be doing callbacks for Wicked if Waitress was still happening really.

Maybe her “might” comment was about Wicked? lol.

In a recent Kat McPhee interview (and I forget what interview now) she said she’s initially contracted to May but seemed open to possibly extending, depending on circumstances. So I guess it depends on whether she wants to extend and the financials of it, because I would imagine that her salary would be a lot higher than someone like Lucie’s would be. So I assume nothing is concrete right now, and yeah you can’t just wait around for a phone call that might not actually happen, at least not for a few months anyway.

If she never does end up playing Jenna on Broadway or the West End, her appearing on those Broadway posters will be one of the weirdest things she’s ever been a part of 🤣