Waitress, Birmingham Hippodrome | 28 April 2026 until 02 May 2026. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by David Gray & Paul Gray

Waitress

Birmingham Hippodrome | 28 April 2026 until 02 May 2026

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review by David Gray & Paul Gray

“Simply delicious!”

On the face of it, this is a low key, self-effacing kind of show that eschews the big bucks trapping of the average Broadway or West End Musical. But under its modest surface, it deals with important ideas and packs real emotional punch.

Jenna lives a down-at-heal, put-upon-life in a backwater small American town. She and her immediate circle are ordinary, if a little eccentric, and just getting on with life. The people who frequent the diner where she works, as a waitress and making pies, seem decent and clean. But as the show progresses, this veneer begins to crumble.

Two developments rock her stable, if mundane life. First, she discovers she is pregnant by her boorish and bullying husband. Second, she falls into an intimate affair with the new Doctor in town. She is disappointed with herself for the first of these developments. And shocked with herself for the second.

But as things develop, the narrative starts to explore the reality of the secondary characters. So many of these, like her, are unhappy and some also resort to desperate measures to seek comfort. Her married boss and married friend are having an affair. Her other friend is seeking love in the personal columns and seems to dread meeting Mr Right. The owner of the Diner, Joe, played with cantankerous relish by Les Dennis, has a checkered past.

So the wholesome American Dream is skewered and revealed as a messy illusion.

But the show offers a metaphorical alternative to this reality. Jenna is a pie alchemist. She puts all manner of disparate and unlikely flavour combinations in her culinary creations and, somehow, as if by magic, they all come out with their own stories and taste amazing.

And as the plot develops she and we realise this is the key to life. Communities and people are all combinations of weird and disparate elements; the key is to just accept this and make it work. The denouement comes for Jenna and the people she loves when they embrace this truth. It’s a lovely warm message at the heart of a lovely warm show.

The music is, on the whole, functional but occasionally lifts to be something more inspiring, particularly in the second act. The choreography is subtle, understated and beautifully integrated. The sets are efficient yet always add depth and texture to the narrative.

The performances are without exception, excellent. Carrie Hope Fletcher shines in the leading role. She inhabits Jenna with complete conviction and sings her heart out. Dan Partidge, as the love interest, alternates between endearing, awkward charm and laugh out loud comedy. He is also vocally outstanding and enjoys brilliant dramatic and musical chemistry with Fletcher.

Sandra Marvin and Evie Hoskins, as Jenna’s friends Becky and Dawn, both bring on the laughs, but also passion and pathos.

This musical is an absolute delight.

Cast

Jenna – Carrie Hope Fletcher

Cal – Dan O’Brien

Becky – Sandra Marvin

Dawn – Evie Hoskins

Joe – Les Dennis

Earl – Mark Willshire

Dr. Pomatter – Dan Partridge

Nurse Norma – Ellie Ruiz Rodriguez

Ogie – Mark Anderson

Creatives

Book – Jessie Nelson

Music & Lyrics – sara Bareilles

Restaged by – Abbey O’Brien

Sets – Scott Pask

Costumes – Suttirat Ann Larlarb

Lighting – Ken Billington

Director – Diane Paulus

Choreographer – Lorin Latarro

Musical Director – Fancesca Warren