It’s the return of Waitress the musical to Houston, the story of expert pie maker and waitress Jenna trapped in an abusive marriage who sets her sights on fighting her way out of a sad life via a pie making contest with a $20,000 prize.
It’s a story of female entitlement and found family that ever since the 2007 movie written by Adrienne Shelly and the more recent stage version has found an eager audience across the country. It doesn’t hurt at all that the on-stage adaptation arrives with music by Sara Bareilles (“She Used to Be Mine.”) Theatre Under the Stars is bringing it to the Hobby Center.
Adam Standley plays Dr. Jim Pomatter, the so understanding OBGYN who enters into a sudden torrid affair with Jenna after she goes to him to find out that yes, she is pregnant by her louse of a husband Earl. How bad is Earl? He takes all her tips, won’t let her drive and isn’t at all nice to her or her friends.
Dr. Pomatter comes to the rescue but he isn’t a clear cut hero, being married while he and Jenna are carrying on. Still he brings a level of understanding and kindness that Jenna has had from very few men in her life. The diner owner and resident curmudgeon, Joe, is also kind to her in his own grumpy grandpa way. It’s he who calls her attention to the pie making contest.
Standley, who grew up in Austin and has family in Houston, was more than excited to get to play the role of Dr. Pomatter but says he faced some challenges to take it on.
“I started preparing for this audition two months early. This one was a particularly challenging one. It’s a high tenor role. I am a tenor but it’s a sort of fancy set of high tenor requirements. He sings sings very high in sort of a rock-pop big sound. He also sings very, very high in a sort of delicate, beautiful soft sound and those are very different muscles. You need to do it with a lot of facility and ease. I re-invested in some voice lessons. That really helped.”
Asked why he wanted to play Dr. Pomatter, Standley says: “It’s really swell when you can play characters that don’t fit other archetypal situations. This is a gynecologist in a marriage that starts an affair and is sympathetic. He has a complicated track and he’s also nervous. It’s a pretty complex role to play technically speaking. I don’t know another character that you could say is like Dr. Pomatter. It’s a complex human that’s being represented and I think it meets very well what’s complexly going on with the center of the story in Jenna.
Also some of the songs have some gorgeous lines in there that are a real treat to get to do.”
Asked why Jenna is attracted to the doctor, Standley says that’s something he and Kerstin Anderson who plays Jenna have talked about during rehearsals. “I think it kind of surprises both of them that they end up being attracted to each other.
“It is true that Jenna has not had the benefit of good men in her life from father or from her current husband.” Besides being genuinely kind to Jenna, Pomatter also never demands anything from her or tried to direct her actions, Standley says.
Other members of the cast include: Tori Gresham as “Dawn,” Porscha Shaw as “Becky,” Dane Stokinger as “Earl,” Kennedy Kanagawa as “Ogie,” Allen Fitzpatrick as “Joe,” Brandon O’Neill as “Cal,” and Houston’s own Siena Quintos Blodgett and Adeline Miley sharing the role of “Lulu.”
Standley credits Bareilles’ writing for the success of the musical. “It’s one thing to write really good music. Just structurally there are astounding things with what Sara has done. My numbers are in 6/8 time signature which means they are totally different from every other musical song I have ever sung that are all in 4/4 time. And these beautiful harmonies and these soft lyric lines. I think Sara made this possible in a very unique way.”
Standley says there’s a reason a lot of people have been waiting to see the musical. Based in Seattle now, he says many of his friends have called Waitress the best show they’ve seen in years. “It’s about mother and daughters. It’s about getting unstuck. It’s about chosen family. It’s about women.” And he calls Anderson who plays the title role “A jaw-dropping singer.”
“I’ve never been in a show where there’s so many Stop in the middle of the scene ovations. I’m not making that up; that’s actually happening.”
Performances are scheduled for April 16-27 at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays and Sunday, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays at the Hobby Center, 800 Bagby For more information, call 713-558-8887 or visit tuts.org. $34-$138.50,
