WAITRESS Will Officially Bow on Broadway in Spring 2016- Page 3

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 8/14/15 at 1:04am

I will see the show for the performance of Jesse Mueller - I love my Broadway dames. However, after listening to my "unofficial, unmixed cast recording", I have to say the score is very boring - it's like listening to the same song over again. Very monotonous. However, people on here raved about The Last Ship's score and I thought it was just dreadful, so, who knows?

[gypsy101]

Posted: 8/14/15 at 1:06am

I read something online yesterday that Sara's upcoming studio album will be songs from Waitress, reworked "to sound like Sara Bareilles songs." Do you guys think this album will still materialize if the show flops on Broadway? I have loved her for many years so I hope the show is successful.

[gypsy101]

Posted: 8/14/15 at 1:15am

Sally, where did you hear the score?

[oncemorewithfeeling2]

Posted: 8/14/15 at 1:26am

^

There's a boot of it already circulating,

[rjm516]

Posted: 8/14/15 at 10:16am

I'm so excited for how many potentially great female performances will come this year! And I really can't wait for Cynthia Erivo to take over Broadway. What an exciting season already. 

[gmhots]

Posted: 8/14/15 at 12:05pm

I absolutely think that Waitress is not Broadway-ready at this point and am disappointed they are bringing it here so early.

I am also a big-ish Sara Bareilles and Jessie Mueller fan (and Keala Settle) but seriously... it's not. I'm glad it's playing to a small-ish house but I don't think they're ready. The score and the book need some work and the ensemble work is far, far from polished. That said, there's still some time so hopefully when I watch it in the Brooks Atkinson it will be much better!

As for Tonys, Jessie will probably be the only nomination of the bunch.

[NJ_BroadwayGirl]

Posted: 8/14/15 at 12:50pm

I think Jessie is integral to the show and perhaps she didn't want to wait any longer. That could certainly impact things.

I also expect that there will be some recasting done before Broadway for ensemble and other parts.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 8/14/15 at 12:58pm

"I also expect that there will be some recasting done before Broadway for ensemble and other parts."

What makes you say that? Is someone bad?

[NJ_BroadwayGirl]

Posted: 8/14/15 at 1:08pm

Expect may have been the wrong verb. No one is bad. More that I wouldn't be surprised, just given that it's an out of town tryout ending in September and the show won't be on Broadway until March so things come up for people.

I do think some of the ensemble could have been a little sharper, especially when you think of people covering principal roles on Broadway. I know they are all working very hard and I don't want to insult - I'm just thinking from a logistical standpoint. It's a small cast too. So I just wouldn't be surprised to see some changes.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 8/14/15 at 1:12pm

I mean, I guess it's possible that people in the current cast could be offered a different Broadway show between now and February/March, but it's pretty unlikely. I imagine they'll all stay with it unless they aren't asked to continue.

[Phillypinto]

Posted: 8/14/15 at 1:52pm

they still have over a month to make changes and fix the issues. Plus they will still have time to rework the show after the ART run, and then rehearsals and previews. People on here have said that the show is great and far from unsavable so i have high hopes for this show. Paulus isn't afraid to make changes either. Didn't they make a lot of changes to Neverland?

[gmhots]

Posted: 8/14/15 at 2:30pm

Aside from personnel changes, many of the Neverland changes were made during previews at the Lunt Fontanne vs. between ART and Broadway.

 

Didn't mean to come across that negative in my post! Haha. I do think it's salvageable; the staging and presentation just needs to be much more polished. There's only so much Jessie can carry after all. Looking forward to tracking its evolution.

[Phillypinto]

Posted: 8/14/15 at 2:33pm

did u see neverland on broadway and the art? which version did u like better?

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 8/14/15 at 2:48pm

I remember Diane Paulus stating once in an interview that she always reads the reviews as something to keep in mind for future incarnations of whatever show she's working on.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 8/14/15 at 2:51pm

Almost all directors read reviews, as far as I know. The creatives do. It's usually actors that don't.

[Different Drum]

Posted: 8/15/15 at 3:04pm

There's a lot of grudging support here from fans of Bareilles and Mueller, but not much more than that. And neither are going to sell tickets on Broadway. Critics are not as likely to overlook what appears to be a sameness of the score and blandness of the book. Or the derivative quality of yet another screen-to-stage diner musical. If this is the case, WAITRESS could be DOA before the first preview.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/15/15 at 3:31pm

I am not defending the show, I haven't seen it yet.  Finding Neverland has certainly proved that a show doesn't need to win reviewers to be successful. It rec'd horrid reviews both in Boston and NY.  But those saying the show isn't b'way ready...it has 7 months before it goes back to rehearsals....which could be plenty of time to make necessary improvements.  I just returned from hearing Paulus speak where she said there hasn't been two performance that have been identical, as there have been changes every day, and there will continue to be until the day or two before opening (Thurs).

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 8/15/15 at 5:35pm

I went to see the show not knowing Sara's music or really knowing Jessie. I know that she won the Tony but I never saw her in anything. I saw the show for Jeanna deWaal and Stephanie Torns. I ended up loving the show. It will do fine on Broadway. 

[Phillypinto]

Posted: 8/15/15 at 6:19pm

I think you are totally underestimating the show. It is not just a "sanitized" musical as they said about neverland. Waitress deals with very serious issues including domestic violence. There has been a lot of talk about this show since before it even announced its ART run as I stood in line for rush tickets for side show and a whole group of people were talking about how they love Jessie mueller and can't wait for waitress. I think it will be a hit especially since most theatre goers are middle aged women. It will be a hit like beautiful. Plus of course the Sara barellis fans that will come see the show

Updated On: 8/15/15 at 06:19 PM

[BwayinVan]

Posted: 8/15/15 at 6:50pm

To judge a show before it has even opened out of town I think is a bit premature. You have to think that producers wouldn't invest in something that they didn't think would be successful. Then again stranger things have happened....  If there aren't any changes between now and opening night on Broadway then that's a different story but at this point I'm looking at it as a work in progress

[RippedMan]

Posted: 8/16/15 at 1:36am

I do think it will be a tough sell. I mean Barielles is well known, but not on the level of Elton John, etc. She's big in the musical theater circuit though, and so is Mueller, so that will keep it running for a bit. And Hamilton is awesome, but come next January there will be other shows in the news, etc. I don't think it will lose any of the Tonys, but I don't think it will be a clean sweep either. 

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 8/16/15 at 7:58am

^We should also keep in mind that Hamilton will be absent from competing in next year's Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Awards like Fun Home was this past year.

 

So it should be interesting to see which other show could possibly gain momentum.

Updated On: 8/16/15 at 07:58 AM

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 8/17/15 at 9:53am

I made the trip up to Boston yesterday and caught the matinee of Waitress.  There are some strong elements, but there's also plenty of stuff that needs a lot of work.

 

The greatest strength of the production is the gorgeous performance by Jessie Mueller. This is the sixth role I've seen her take on, and I know she already has a Tony, but her work here felt like a breakout performance; it's also oddly the first time I've seen her originate songs. She is very naturalistic, sweet and sincere. Even in her big number she never goes for the obvious and overtly showy choice; it's the perfect balance of heartfelt emotion and restraint to maintain the character she has so meticulous built. I found her to be completely thrilling and she earned every emotion that character went through in the second act.

 

Unfortunately Mueller is a completely different show than everyone else on that stage. Usually it's a bad thing to be the one who's not on the same page as everyone else, but in this case everyone needs to get on board with what their leading lady is doing. Of course a lot of the fault lies with the book and direction, but the tone shifts will give you whiplash from the broad (sometimes verging on camp) comedy to the ever so human and simple portrayal by Mueller.

 

Behind Mueller, the next best thing is the score. After reading some of the comments that it all sounded the same I was worried I would be in for 2.5 hours of static ballads, but I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of the score, and I think it felt completely appropriate for the setting and the melodies fit Mueller's voice perfectly. The lyrics are what impressed me the most though- for a novice theater writer I can only assume she did her homework because I don't remember anything amateurish or cringe-worthy (now the book is another mattter...) and it was far better than what some "theater" composers have come up with in recent seasons like Chaplin, The Addams Family and It Shoulda Been You. (I realize I'm not setting a high bar here, ha, but rather trying to dispel any unfounded prejudice against Bareilles as a "pop" composer.) There was one song sung (and unfortunately reprised) by two couples in a hospital waiting room that should be cut because the characters are so unnecessary and annoying, and I would have liked to see a stronger trio written for the three women, but other than that I thought the score was quite good.

 

Now where to start with everything else! Poor Joe Tippett has to play one of the most hateful characters in a musical in recent memory; a horribly thankless role that he does his best with. Not that I expect a wife-beating, controlling, arrogant, jealous bastard to be cuddly teddy bear, but I just couldn't wait for those scenes to be over. These are tricky roles, but at least when Hunter Foster played the role in Bridges he was more sympathetic- he also wasn't beating Kelli, there just was no passion in the marriage, but still.

 

Jeremy Morse has a bizarre supporting part that kind of overtakes the show for the last twenty minutes of act one and the beginning of act two. He is also given two big solos and Settle and de Waal are only given one each. His character goes on a date with de Waal (off-stage) that, according to de Waal went very badly. He shows up at the diner the next day completely smitten and tells her she's never going to get rid of him and despite her protests of never wanting to see him again he basically sings that he's going to stalk her for life until she realizes it's their destiny to be together- because that's romantic! Well she decides to go on a second date, and then

 SPOILER******************************************************************

shortly after the second date she accepts his MARRIAGE PROPOSAL and then shortly after that they get married! It's such a sitcom subplot without any stakes or reason to really exist.

END SPOILERS**********************************************************

The tone of the whole subplot is so at odds with everything else that's come before it that I found myself scratching my head as to what direction this was all heading.

 

Settle is chewing as much scenery as humanly possible. She's like Kat Dennings' 2 Broke Girls character on speed. The book really never lets her be anything more than the wise-cracking, sassy best friend, but was cranked up to 11 and then some. Strangely, for such a comic role he one solo is an angry, dramatic song delivered with gusto toward Mueller after a quarrel. The song itself was nicely written, but I think adding a comic number for her in act one would be a wise move.

 

The ensemble often backed up the lead singers with oooh and aaah harmonies, which was nice, but they were often given this horribly distracting and overly stylized choreographed movement to go along with it. I didn't get what Paulus was going for with that.  Like I said, I hated the nonsense with the two pregnant couples and I assume padding like that will be trimmed during the transfer to New York. It doesn't leave much for the ensemble to do, but like Bridges, the story is so much more interesting when it focuses on the leads (or at least Mueller) than the busy stuff around it.

 

Paulus really needs to create a better sense of setting. The program says "A small town off Highway 27" wherever that is. They mention that Drew Gehling's character moved here from Connecticut, to which one of the friends says, well what did he move out here for? Yet the place is never established, except for being vaguely Southern and rural. They also make a New Jersey joke that feels like something a New Yorker would think to make, not these characters. Other little things like a character says he's double parked in front of the diner so he has to go soon. Double parked? In a rural diner parking lot? And in one of the hospital scenes suddenly a gaggle of interns and nurses appear and Mueller asks who all these people are. Suddenly we're at Seattle Grace because this little clinic has suddenly become a teaching hospital!

 

All these things may seem like little details, and they are, but all the little inconsistencies are adding up to big problems. The book and direction need work and the tone and setting need smoothed out.

 

Even with all these criticisms, there is a good show in here with an outstanding performance by a rising star in the theater. There's work to be done, perhaps painful work because overhauling tone is one of the hardest things to do, but I think all the problems are fixable. I look forward to seeing this again in New York, hopefully when it's in a better state.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 8/17/15 at 10:58am

Thank you so much for your detailed review, Whizzer! I am looking forward to seeing this New York.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 8/17/15 at 11:03am

Jeff, with your potential best leading actress nominees you are forgetting about Erin Mackey.