Sweet treat: ‘Waitress’ regional premiere features leading lady’s star turn
“Waitress” — 3.5 stars
Paramount Theatre is on a roll.
In October, it announced a six-month extension of Stolp Island's hit “Million Dollar Quartet.” Its four-star regional premiere of “Frozen” followed in November. Now comes the Aurora theater's highly entertaining regional premiere of “Waitress,” the warmhearted musical by award-winning composer/lyricist Sara Bareilles and writer Jessie Nelson.
Adapted from the 2007 indie film starring Keri Russell, Bareilles' country-tinged tuner centers around the unhappily married, unexpectedly pregnant, baker extraordinaire Jenna, played with exquisite self-awareness by Michelle Lauto, whose wonderfully sung, profoundly emotional performance of the 11 o'clock number stopped the show.
More about that later.
Commencing with Lauto's disembodied voice murmuring ingredients (an alluring echo that recurs throughout the show), “Waitress” centers around the kindly Jenna. Resigned to lost dreams and a loveless marriage, she assuages her sadness by baking delectable, mood-reflective pies at the small-town, southern-fried diner where she waits tables alongside best pals: sassy, sardonic Becky (Teressa LaGamba) and quirky, comical Dawn (Kelly Felthous).
Aware of Jenna's unhappiness, the women, backed by curmudgeonly diner owner Joe (Ron E. Rains), encourage her to enter a pie baking contest whose $20,000 prize would enable her to leave her shiftless, abusive husband Earl (Ian Paul Custer, who makes evident just how pathetic the character is).
Meanwhile, Jenna and her married obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Pomatter (an endearingly nervous David Moreland) embark upon an affair, comically depicted in the rollicking first act finale “Bad Idea.”
Theirs isn't “Waitress'” only romance. Dawn falls for oddball Ogie (Jackson Evans), while the married Becky has an affair with manager Cal (Jonah D. Winston), her workplace sparring partner.
The score features several up-tempo numbers, but its strength is its ballads, like “A Soft Place to Land,” a dreamy trio delicately delivered by Lauto, LaGamba and Felthous, and “You Matter to Me,” Lauto and Moreland's lovely second act duet. Most memorable is Lauto's aforementioned showstopper, the soul-baring, self-empowering “She Used to be Mine,” which finds Jenna reclaiming her independence for the sake of her baby and herself.
Director/choreographer Katie Spelman has assembled a strong cast whose enthusiasm and likability compensates for Nelson's two-dimensional characters.
I greatly admired Spelman's magnificent regional premiere of “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812” at Writers Theatre in 2024, and her quietly eloquent 2023 revival of “Once” at the same theater. Her affection for these characters is evident and her direction has a candor and intimacy that recalls the late director/choreographer Rachel Rockwell's work.
Lastly, there is designer Scott Davis’ smartly conceived stage. Set below a towering sign for Joe’s Diner and Pie Shop, the stage rotates to depict the quaint, 1950s-style, roadside diner where Jenna bakes and waits tables; the poorly wallpapered home she shares with Earl; and Dr. Pomatter's wood-paneled examination room, where their romantic liaisons take place.
Davis sets the revolving stage against a clear, blue sky backdrop, a suggestion of the endless possibilities awaiting the woman willing to pursue them.
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Location: Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora, (630) 896-6666, paramountaurora.com
Showtimes: 1:30 and 7 p.m. Wednesday; 7 p.m. Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 3 and 8 p.m. Saturday; and 1 and 5:30 p.m. Sunday through March 30
Tickets: $28-$85
Running time: About 2 hours, 35 minutes, including intermission
Rating: For adults, includes mature language and some sexual content