PicksInSix Review: Waitress-Paramount Theatre
Paramount's 'Waitress' is a Dream Pie!
PicksInSix® Gold Review | Ed Tracy
It’s safe to say that everyone in the audience for the opening of Paramount Theatre’s regional premiere production of “Waitress,” directed and choreographed by Katie Spelman, got something at the outset they never expected.
Only minutes into the show, as the lovely and talented Michelle Lauto playing the pie baker/waitress extraordinaire Jenna is in a scene transition from the prep station to Joe’s Diner & Pie Shop, a voice of authority echoed through the theater directing actors to immediately clear the stage as the house lights came up and the curtain came down.
This happens, of course. “It’s live theatre, folks!” a familiar voice bellowed from the back of the house to the delight of the audience.
Several minutes passed and then, to a rousing ovation, the curtain rose again where Lauto, standing alone, unfazed, immediately recaptured the momentum and launched into what will surely be regarded as one of the single most engaging overall performances to grace the Paramount stage in recent memory.
Yes, that is saying a lot, but this show and Lauto’s role in it represents a turning point in a remarkable career. Having spent more than a decade in lead and ensemble roles on Chicago stages large and small, none have been remotely close to Aurora’s awe-inspiring 1800-seat Paramount and the opportunity to shine in a large scale, professional production.
And shine she does. Lauto is a superb actor who has consistently delivered vocally powerful performances with a near limitless range. In “Waitress,” she is all at once emotionally exposed and vulnerable as Jenna whose pies are as sweet as her arresting presence. It’s a multi-layered offering, exuding confidence, maturity and the fearless quality that you equate with a star.
As the story goes, Jenna, the daughter of a loving, but physically-abused mother, is now trapped in a lonely, loveless marriage to her toxic husband Earl (a chilling Ian Paul Custer) from which she desperately wants to escape. To add to everything else, she finds out that she’s six weeks pregnant with Earl’s baby.
Enter Dr. Pomatter (David Moreland at his best), her new gynecologist, who falls for more than Jenna’s sweet confections. As the affair shakes Jenna’s moral compass, Pomatter’s loving attention awakens within her the courage she needs to consider making a change to escape Earl’s manipulative hold on her and give her child a better life.
Jenna’s outrageous co-workers at Joe’s, Becky (Teresa LaGamba) and Dawn (Kelly Felthous), are looking for more in their lives, too. Becky is at playful odds with the cook, Cal (Jonah D. Winston) while the wallflower, Dawn is looking for love everywhere until Ogie (Jackson Evans) responds to her hilarious online profile. Once these two find each other, “Waitress” really starts to heat up. With the company performing Spelman’s innovative dance numbers with comic ease—from Becky and Cal in the kitchen with a spatula and Dawn and Ogie reenacting the Revolutionary War—it’s a laugh-a-minute riot!
The 2016 four-time Tony nominated show—based on the 2007 film written by Adrienne Shelly—with book by Jessie Nelson and music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles, earned a best actress nomination for Chicago’s own Jesse Mueller. Spelman and music director Celia Villacres, who also conducts, have an exceptional eye for talent, amassing a seasoned, all-star Chicago cast that includes delightful, featured roles for Ron E. Rains as Joe, Sophie Grimm as Jenna’s Mother/Nurse Norma, and Reese Bella and Julianna Velez who split the roles of young Jenna and Lulu.
Scott Davis’s smart set design revolves from scene to scene in an instant, punctuated by Eric Southern’s lighting that highlights Mieka van der Ploeg’s costumes. Ivy Thomas’s noteworthy properties make for a realistic setting at every turn.
In the end, “Waitress” is a moving story about overcoming obstacles and the power of friendships, all leading to Jenna’s moment of truth: Lauto’s stunning, soul-searching ballad “She Used to Be Mine”—the showstopping highlight of the night.
PHOTO|Brett Beiner Photography
Paramount Theatre
presents
Waitress
23 E Galena Blvd,
Aurora, IL
through March 30, 2025
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Cast Note: The role of Odie will be played by Jackson Evans through March 16. Nik Kmiecik joins the cast beginning March 19 through 30.
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