Review: WAITRESS, Birmingham Hippodrome - UK tour
Photo credit: Johan Persson
A dream is a soft place to land…
The story begins as Jenna (Chelsea Halfpenny) finds out she is pregnant in an unhappy and abusive marriage. Unsure of the challenges of becoming a mother, she turns to her best friends and colleagues for advice and support. They too have their own problems. Jenna’s one hope is a pie competition that she could win to secure her financial freedom but things become even more complicated when she falls for her married gynaecologist.
Chelsea Halfpenny joined the cast as Jenna in January 2022 and she has nailed her performance in the kind but downtrodden lead role. Her vocal range displays clarity in her top notes and she gives a professional rendition of all the big numbers including ‘She Used to Be Mine’. The applause rings out across the theatre as the audience feel her struggle. Her chemistry with Matt Willis is evident in their awkward romance.
Willis who currently plays Dr. Pomatter is clearly relishing his last few chances to perform this role. He manages to make the audience laugh with virtually every line as the neurotic gynaecologist. The duets are well balanced and ‘You Matter to Me’ is particularly touching.
Wendy Mae Brown’s Becky is delightfully funny and delivers every joke with excellent comic timing. Her diction is very clear and she is one waitress you wouldn’t mess with! The relaxed but hilarious performance brings balance and she gets the audience on side early on in the show. Any scenes with Christopher D. Hunt as Cal are hilarious and both actors only enhance each other’s performances.
The cameo role of Nurse Norma is covered for this particular performance by Amelia Atherton. The second half gives her the opportunity to deliver some brilliant one-liners. She certainly makes her mark.
Fan favourite roles Dawn & Ogie are portrayed brilliantly by Evelyn Hoskins and George Crawford. Their chemistry on stage is both charming and amusing, they couldn’t be more suited to the roles.
This show blends cast and musicians together throughout, which allows us to see how every member of the show works together to make this beautiful show. Featuring an on-stage band, the show also includes individual musicians moving to different areas of the stage for certain scenes without distraction, only further adding to the story.
We want to highlight the amazing ensemble for this show, each and every member only building to create the story around them. If it weren’t for the ensemble, the sets, props and backing dancing, acting and singing simply would not make this show what it is. A big pie of working together to create something wonderful.
With an all-female creative team on board, we cannot recommend this show enough.
***** Five stars
Reviewed by: Tyler Whiting
Waitress plays at Birmingham Hippodrome until 21 May and continues touring the country until August 2022. Tickets for select touring venues are available here.