Opening up (one step at a time)

TW- Mention of domestic abuse

I’m very excited about this post as it’s about ‘Waitress’, which is one of my very favourite if not my favourite musical of all time. I was lucky enough to see it in London two years ago with one of my very favourite people, my amazing best friend Rebecca when we went on a trip to London when Mum’s friend, Hawise, was kind enough to let us stay with her. 

‘Waitress’ premiered in 2016 and it was based on the 2007 Adrienne Shelley film of the same name, which isn’t a musical. The book for the musical was written by Jessie Nelson and the music was written by the very talented singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles, who’s known for songs like ‘Love Song’ and ‘Brave’. It’s no surprise then that the musical has some amazing songs, such as ‘Opening up’, ‘She used to be mine’ and ‘A soft place to land’. Sara Bareilles has even played the role of Jenna on Broadway and American actor and singer, Katharine McPhee, who’s been on ‘American Idol’, ‘Smash’ and ‘Scorpion’, played Jenna in London. Although, it was actually the very talented Lucie Jones who played her when we went to see ‘Waitress’.

The story is about a small town waitress named Jenna, who’s a creative pie genius who feels stuck in her marriage with her abusive husband, Earl. When she becomes pregnant with his child, she feels even more trapped and alone but ends up developing a deep connection with the kind gynaecologist, Dr Pomatter, which turns into a passionate affair. While there are heartfelt and comedic moments in the show, difficult subjects such as isolation, infidelity and domestic abuse are explored quite a bit in the musical too as Jenna references her late mother and how she taught her to love baking and it’s heavily implied that Jenna’s father was abusive towards her mother. 

Throughout the musical, Jenna is shown using baking and ideas for different pies as a way to deal with and work through difficult emotions and situations and as a way to process and to consider how she really feels about her situation and the people in her life. To begin with, she seems to be using her creative baking skills as a way to escape or not deal with her problems and feelings but as the show progresses, she begins using it as a kind of muse or ‘eureka’ moment to figure things out and express herself when she doesn’t know how to any other way.

While there are certain ethical questions about infidelity and getting involved with your doctor, especially as Dr Pomatter is also married (to a fellow doctor), the musical makes a point of showing you how awful and controlling Jenna’s husband is and because of this, you just want her to get away from him no matter what. The bond between Jenna and her doctor is actually quite a sweet one, as while it initially seems like it might more to do with physical attraction or Jenna’s unhappiness, they do have a genuine connection. For instance, they help and support each other and are there for each other in ways that other people haven’t been. Even though they don’t end up together and Jenna raises her child as a single mother (spoiler, sorry), it’s clear that they’ll never forget the other and will remember them fondly because of their genuine friendship and the positive impact they had on the other and the way that they made their lives better without even realising it. The part when Jenna gives birth to her daughter, Lulu, and sings about how becoming a mother has changed everything about her outlook on life (with a song appropriately titled ‘Everything changes’) is super moving and beautiful as her love for her daughter is instantaneous and unconditional. It’s also extra heartfelt as you know that little Lulu will reciprocate that love and be inspired by Jenna just like Jenna was by her mother.

Thanks so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it and I hope that you know that, as the song ‘You matter to me’ portrays, no matter what happens or how hard things get, you matter more than you realise and you matter to the people in your life more than you know.