'Waitress' at the Adelphi Theatre

'Waitress' has transferred from Broadway to the West End, to the Adelphi Theatre on the Strand and it's a very nice feel-good tale about pies, domestic violence, pies, customer service, pregnancy, baking, illicit affairs, lots of sugar and spices, and, of course, sex. With songs thrown in for good measure. It's also about love and friendship and it made me smile. Oh, and did I mention pies? In these days of Brexit and Trump we can all do with a smile.

It's the tale of Jenna, our heroine, who is not only a waitress in Joe's Pie Diner but she bakes all the pies as well. She's clearly a nice person since she chats to and listens to Joe, the elderly owner of the diner who comes in every day for breakfast. We learn that she's become pregnant and is married to Earl, a universally unpopular man and there are signs of domestic violence to keep Jenna under control. He takes all her tips at the end of the day. She learns about a pie-making competition that could make her enough money to leave her husband and she also falls for her local doctor and they start an on/off affair. Months later and she has the baby, tells her husband to go away and leave her alone, now that she's empowered by the baby, but what about Joe and the diner? You'll just have to see it for yourself to see the ultimate ending.

It's a very American show in some respects but no less enjoyable. Do we have an equivalent to the diner waitress thing? I don't think so, but if you've been to America you'll have experienced it and you've certainly seen it in films. One moment I did find odd was when the doctor says there are ways to approach a pregnancy and Jenna blurts out that no, she's having the baby, without any mention of abortion. That's a dodgy topic in America so the author is playing it extra-safe given that those lines didn't even need to be said.

There are, of course, several sub-plots to keep us occupied, like Becky (waitress friend 1) having a secret affair with Cal (diner manager) and Dawn (waitress friend 2) marrying Ogie and these all have their own special scenes and laughs. In a way, that's what this musical is - it's about friendship and laughter, love and baking. What more do you need? There are a lot of songs in the show, very much current country tinged pop music that work really well and sound of now.

I thought Katherine McFee was excellent as Jenna as were Marisha Wallace and Laura Baldwin as Becky and Dawn respectively, great comic timing as well as great voices. I also like Stephen Leask as the diner manager who ends up having a rather raunchy affair with Becky. All in all, they make a great cast and it's a great show - if you need your spirits lifted you could do worse than go to see 'Waitress'.

PS: More pie for sale in the interval would've been welcomed...