“Pie fixes everything.”
It’s a phrase you might find embroidered on an apron, or carved from wood and hanging in quaint little kitchen. It also an idea that Jenna Hunterson is betting on in Waitress, a new production of which is now on stage over at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts courtesy of our very own Theatre Under the Stars and Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre.
Jenna is the waitress of this piece, as well as a pie maker extraordinaire, and the kitchen of Joe’s Pie Diner, where Jenna works, is just about the only place she can find solace. Outside the kitchen, things are bad and only getting more complicated. She’s stuck in an abusive marriage to a man named Earl, too broke to leave, and now she’s got an unplanned pregnancy to worry about.
She thinks she’s found her ticket out when the owner of the diner, Joe himself, sees a story in the newspaper about the national pie bake-off. After all, who here might have a chance of baking a contest-winning pie and taking home $20,000? Why, Jenna, of course. With so much going on, it’s probably not the time to start an affair with her married gynecologist Dr. Pomatter, but, as Jenna would be the first to tell you, she’s not exactly one for making the best decisions.
The recipe for this Tony-nominated musical started with a low-budget indie flick of the same name written and directed by the late Adrienne Shelly. Starring Keri Russell, almost smack dab between her iconic roles on Felicity and The Americans, the film was critically acclaimed upon its release in 2007, and producers Barry and Fran Weissler snapped up the stage rights not long after. It took a few more years before the musical, with a lovingly faithful book by Jessie Nelson and music and lyrics by singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles, premiered in 2015.
Now, I’m no expert on productions of Waitress, but of the handful I’ve seen, this is by far the best. Shelly’s story is bittersweet and emotionally rangy, making for potentially uneven terrain tonally, but director and choreographer Lisa Shriver avoids the potential pitfalls. So, what we’ve got is a show that is well-balanced, looks great, sounds great and is excellently performed – starting with Kerstin Anderson as Jenna.
Jenna is an interestingly imperfect character, and that’s what makes watching her have to answer the question of whether “happy enough” is what she wants out of life so compelling. In Jenna, Anderson beautifully captures the essence of a person who hasn’t quite given up but is damn close. In a world of drawn with broad strokes, she turns in the most grounded and the most affecting performance. That’s true throughout the show, but when she sings, the production hits another level. Anderson knocks the show’s famous ballad, “She Used to Be Mine,” right out of the park (and that’s despite some mic issues), but it was on her earlier number, the sweetly sung “What Baking Can Do,” that she teased what was to come. The anticipation was high and Anderson more than delivered.
Supported by a stellar supporting cast, Anderson had a lot to work with and against, starting with the men in her life. First is her controlling, tip-stealing husband Earl, played by Dane Stokinger. Earl starts the show as a rotten husband and only manages to get worse, with Stokinger eliciting audible disdain with his performance.
As her Connecticut transplant doctor and affair partner, Dr. Jim Pomatter, Adam Standley is a seemingly well-meaning but incredibly awkward fellow. He shares great chemistry and great timing with Anderson, especially in the too-funny “Bad Idea (Reprise).” Alongside Standley’s Dr. Pomatter is Nalica Hennings’s Nurse Norma, who deserves a shout for her own comedic reactions as she interrupts Jenna’s “appointments.”
Finally, there’s Allen Fitzpatrick as Joe, the owner of the diner and an Aquarius (like Jenna). Fitzpatrick’s Joe is gruff and particular, but takes on a fatherly role in Jenna’s life – see the country-ish “Take It From an Old Man” (a song I’m certain I heard but that’s not in the program) – that that ends up being more than expected.
Firmly in Jenna’s corner are her two best friends, fellow waitresses Becky and Dawn. The three are a pleasure in scenes together, complimenting each other well, like in the most charming and upbeat ditty you’ll probably ever hear about peeing on a stick, “The Negative.” Porscha Shaw’s Becky doesn’t get a ton to do, but Shaw claws attention in every scene she’s in and rouses the audience with “I Didn’t Plan It” in the second act. Shaw’s also got a fun dynamic with Brandon O’Neill’s short-order cook Cal. Their banter, from trading barbs to even a brief, Old West-style showdown, is a treat.
Tori Gresham is delightful as Dawn, a lover of historical re-enactments and turtles. She’s nerdy and nasally, a bit of a Steve Urkel (she even snorts when she laughs), but also an undeniable sweetheart. Gresham shines in “When He Sees Me,” expertly and easily modulating the emotional tone of the song from half-crazed, imagined worst-case scenarios to revealing vulnerability. It’s a great moment for Gresham, and an appreciated one since she is soon subsumed by the over-the-top antics of Kennedy Kanagawa’s asthmatic Ogie, the clogging magician she attracts with her online dating profile.
Kanagawa plays the audience like a fiddle, drawing out every possible giggle and guffaw possible with his exaggerated delivery and physicality during “Never Ever Getting Rid of Me.” Personally, those antics wore out their welcome by the time he started quoting the Declaration of Independence, but the audience was still eating it up and, well, who am I to argue with people having a good time.
Joe’s Pie Diner, designed by Julia Hayes Welch is perfectly worn, a seen-better-days throwback that screams dusty roadside. The transitions in the production are smooth, with the secondary sets sliding in and out like a well-oiled machine. The production makes good use of shadow and spotlight here, with Robert J. Aguilar’s lighting designs otherwise bright, like Danielle Nieves’s costumes. Nieves’s builds upon the diner’s robin-blue uniform and sensible white shoes with helpful little character touches and stays true to each character when they’re out of their diner apparel, too.
Final verdict: I’ve had my complaints about Waitress, and those haven’t changed. But this is a production you won’t want to miss.
Performances will continue at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through April 27 at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, 800 Bagby. For more information, call 713-558-8887 or visit tuts.org. $34-$138.50.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.
