Now officially open in the West End, Love London Love Culture rounds up the reviews for the London production of Sara Bareilles’ musical.
Evening Standard: ★★★★ “The show has cartoonish elements, but mostly subverts its moments of sentimentality and silliness, and there’s a whole lot of humour baked into it.”
Musical Manda: ★★★★ “Sweet and funny, Waitress is certain to make your mouth water and heart sing.”
The Guardian: ★★★ “The performances, in Diane Paulus’ lively production, are very much part of the show’s appeal. Katharine McPhee endows Jenna with a vulnerability, kindness and inbuilt sadness that only finds release in her extramarital fling: she also delivers her big climactic solo with real verve.”
Rewrite This Story: ★★★★ “Waitress is a show that takes you off the beaten track and provides a more intimate, less flashy show compared to those we usually see. This nuanced musical is a sweet treat that will warm your heart, purely thanks to it’s quirkiness and affectionate score.”
The Independent: ★★★★ “Admittedly, there are moments of discomfort but it says a lot for the fast sass and wonderful take-it-or-leave it silliness and the occasional sugar-free sequences in Jessie Nelson’s deft book that the spot-on cast in Diane Paulus’ production mostly manage to give these elisions an elating good humour and humanity.”
LondonTheatre1: ★★★★ “In the end, there’s hope for anyone who seeks a better life than the one they’ve currently got in this comforting and charming production. A diner worth visiting.”
Time Out: ★★★ “McPhee gives a beautifully weary performance, setting the tone for a mostly British cast that treats the serious bits seriously and goes balls-to-the-wall on the daft stuff. Sara Bareilles’ country-rock-ish songs are funny, literate and enjoyable, with one stone-cold banger in ‘She Used to be Mine’. And Paulus really shows us why they pay her the big bucks: she keeps everything moving with a slick dynamism that frequently belies the changes in set, scene and tone. There’s really a lot to like; I just struggled to like all of it all at once.”
The Telegraph: “I have to confess to craving a slice of humble-pie after watching Waitress, the latest big Broadway musical import, set in a Southern diner specialising in home-made pies.”
Musical Theatre Lives in Me: “Waitress is a sugary show, sweetly sassy and passionate, with each moment just as delicious as the last.”
There Ought to be Clowns: “The result is a show which is funnier and lighter than you might expect, full of musical treats and sugary warmth.”
The Reviews Hub: ★★★ “It is as American as Cherry Pie, sweet and flavoursome but also saccharine and over-earnest. Waitress has a lot of really great moments propelled by some excellent performances, but something is missing from the recipe.”
Mind The Blog: ★★★★★ “A new musical that proves that when you get the basic ingredients right, you really are in for a treat – the music and book are brilliant, and it is performed to Star Baker standard.”
The Spy in the Stalls: ★★★★ “Waitress is not flawless, and is in no way a revolution for musical theatre, but the restless sense of joy and fun it invokes cannot be overstated – this show is utterly delectable.”
Waitress continues to play at the Adelphi Theatre.
