The Arts Club Theatre Company’s production of Waitress is on stage at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage until August 3.
Jenna (Rachel Drance) is a small-town waitress and pie-maker at Joe’s Pie Diner long dreams of a new life away from the one that’s been forced upon her by the Southern stereotypes. Facing an unexpected pregnancy that complicates her desire to break free from her abusive husband. Fate serves Jenna a lifeline with the possibility of winning the grand prize in a pie-baking contest. With Joe’s and her friends as her happy place, a new romance in her corner, and the potential of prize money, will she find herself in time to take a leap into a new life?
Based on Adrienne Shelly’s 2007 indie film, Waitress the Musical features a book by Jessie Nelson with music and lyrics by Grammy-award winner Sara Bareilles. Waitress was the first time in Broadway history that a production team was led by women, which continues at the Arts Club. Director Ashlie Corcoran leads a brilliant team including Choreographer Shelley Stewart Hunt and Musical Director Caitlin Hayes. Hayes conducts the live band including Clare Wyatt, Monica Sumulong Dumas, Peter Serravalle, Colin Parker, and Finn Manniche.
The stellar cast is the perfect recipe to serve up a beautifully baked production. Lead by Rachel Drance (Virgin River and The Flash) making her professional theatre debut as Jenna alongside Arts Club veterans Sarah Cantuba and Josh Epstein as the hilarious comedic duo Dawn and Ogie. Like opposite ends of a battery, Kamyar Pazandeh, as Dr Pomatter and Jacob Woike as Earl are opposing forces for leading man in the show and Jenna’s life. Smooth voiced Tom Pickett offers words of wisdom as father figure diner-owner Joe. Ben Elliott as Cal, the diner’s cook/manager adds more laughs while Ashanti J’Aria, making her Arts Club debut, packs a powerful voice and strong shoulders for Jenna to lean on.
Also integral to the recipe, the talented ensemble back up the cast on vocals and dance, smoothly shifting Cory Sincennes’ set pieces with Shelley Stewart Hunt’s carefully choreographed movements. Including over 700 props with 35 different pies, Sincennes’ set and costumes help to root Waitress in a reality which is perfectly balanced with the fantastic moments that help Jenna to find her strength.
While Waitress features characters are that are conventionally flawed, they feel real which makes the journey of discovery that much more empowering and uplifting. As Bareilles’ lyrics in She Used to be Mine reflect, “…all of this mixed up, and baked into a beautiful pie”
Taste the success of a perfectly baked performance for yourself, Waitress continues until August 3, 2025 at The Arts Club Theatre Company Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage, 2750 Granville Street, Vancouver. Visit artsclub.com for more information and tickets