Waitress Final Performance Update

In case anyone was wondering....there will be no rush or standing room offered for the final performance of Waitress this coming Sunday. Just in case anyone didn't know.

I just passed by the box office - there’s a sign on the door that says no rush/SRO for Sunday, and “very limited rush” for Friday and Saturday. Hope that helps.

The final performance hasn’t started yet.

There are videos of the final curtain speech by Sara and the singalong on Twitter. I went to the diner 5 times. The first time I was overweight depressed and hated everything about my life. The show means so much to me. Over the course of the run I changed one thing at a time. Eventually just like Jenna everything changed. Still not perfect but so much better. I will always love Waitress.

So much happened tonight at my sixth and final visit to the diner. Lots of ad libs from the cast. Definitely forgot to list some as it’s late but some things I noticed:

-Katharine messed up the line “my momma said you can live to be 100 if you give up all the things that make you want to live to be 100” and said “my momma said you can live to be 100 if you give up all the things that make you live.” She cracked and said l”let me try that again” and the audience ate that up
-the scene where Ogie is in the kitchen with Cal, instead of the usual cheek kiss, Ogie went for a peck on the lips, Cal completely lost it
-at the end of the Never Ever Getting Rid Of Me scene, instead of just Jenna and Becky saying “yes!” The entire ensemble and band popped up to say it too
-Stephanie Torns got the standing ovation she deserved when she walked on stage as Francine during the delivery scene

CPannullo said: "Stephanie Torns got the standing ovation she deserved when she walked on stage as Francine during the delivery scene


She deserved that and more

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You guys have already posted a lot of my fave moments of the night, but it was an incredible And emotional evening. The energy in the room was insane. I teared up the moment Kat/Jenna started her first “Dear Baby” and didn’t really stop weeping until the end.

In What’s Inside there was a big crash as I think someone in the ensemble dropped smtg which made everyone laugh and was a real ice breaker for the cast I think. And then kat was laughing as she sang “what a mess I’m making” because at that point the ensemble were accidentally or deliberately drenching her with flour, haha!

Kat accidentally throwing the dough out the bowl in WBCD and casually walking round the station to pick it up whilst still singing flawlessly was a funny and awesome moment, as was when she just stopped speaking during “my momma used to say” because she thought she’d messed up and then ad libbed with “as I was saying” because saying it again. Then Drew ad libbed with “she’s a smart lady” haha!!

The love in the room for Stephanie Torns was amazing to see, from her standing o when she came on as Francine Pomatter, to Kat going straight to her to share her closing bow with her, which was maybe my fave moment of the entire show, and v classy and selfless of kat.

Caitlin getting a standing o after “When He Sees Me” causing her to sob on stage was another highlight!

Chris Fitzgerald kissing Benny on the mouth stopped the show also because Benny totally wasn’t expecting it lmao.

I could keep going, but Kat and the rest of the cast just gave an amazing performance all round. The final scenes with Dr P and Jenna hit really hard when Drew said “so this is goodbye” and kat said “thanks for taking me to the moon, moon pie” - I’ve always loved how kat says that line In the show and it was extra poignant obviously this time - and kat pretty much losing it when she says “name a pie for me when I’m gone” was just the final straw for me.

And the speeches were beautiful, especially with it ending with an audience rendition of Everything Changes, led by Sara. Sara and her crew have put their heart and soul into this show and you could really tell, with all the outpouring of love in the room. It’ll be missed on Broadway

THANKS FOR TAKING ME TO THE MOON, MOON PIE

Updated On: 1/7/20 at 03:04 PM

yankeefan7 said: ""And then for Katharine to pull Stephanie with her center stage to share the Jenna bow... that was quite extraordinary and completely selfless. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that one. "

I did not know why she did that after reading your post and I went to youtube to watch clip of the final bow and speeches. In the comment section, somebody explained how much Stephanie has done for the show during their entire run. That was really a class act by Katherine McPhee."

Stephanie had performed as Jenna over 250 times...many unexpected times as with all understudies but often planned weeks/months at a time. That’s a 6-7 month run if you add them up. (And that does not include the times she went on as Dawn the first year) So although Dec 30 was her last actual date as Jenna, it was nice to see her get special recognition for this last show. Classy of Katharine to share her final bow.

After understudying Elphaba and Jenna for years, I think it’s well overdue for Stephanie to get her own part sometime. It doesn’t always happen. Exceptional standbys/understudies are hard to come by. But I can only hope.


Also from another post above: “Chris Fitzgerald kissing Benny on the mouth stopped the show also because Benny totally wasn’t expecting it lmao”.


He may not have been expecting that but he was expecting something. I think it was Chris’ goal every show for the last week to make Benny laugh and he found a way at each show..by popping up in the wrong place, adlibbing crazy lines, once slipping and blaming “Cal” for the mess, and then the final smooch. They were a hoot.

Updated On: 1/9/20 at 11:24 AM