[NEohioPAL] Review of touring "Waitress" at Playhouse Square

[Bob Abelman]

Touring ‘Waitress’ a blue-plate special with a side of extraordinary



Bob Abelman

Cleveland Jewish News, The News Herald, The Morning Journal

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics



There’s an old adage from the days of Rodgers and Hart that a sign of a great musical is audience members humming a show tune on their way out of the theater.



While leaving the Connor Palace Theatre after witnessing “Waitress,” several show tunes – with their close-knit harmonies, coffee house/country bar sensibilities, and poignant lyrics – fight for supremacy. 



It can even be argued that “Waitress” is all about the music, for playwright Jessie Nelson’s faithful adaptation of Adrienne Shelly's low-budget 2007 movie of the same name is a rather formulaic confection about the hopes and dreams of small-town waitress Jenna, who helps run Joe’s Pie Diner somewhere in the South.



But the gorgeous songs by Grammy-winning composer and lyricist Sara Bareilles provide personal insight into the hopes and dreams of the show’s central characters and, by doing so, offer pitch-perfect voice and a gorgeous melody to our own expectations and aspirations.  >From the show-opening “What’s Inside” to the finale “Everything Changes,” the songs air lift the storytelling that surrounds them.



So does director Diane Paulus' remarkable staging, which adds a palpable heightened sense of reality to everything her designers have to offer.  



For more of this article, go to www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/.
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