Barry and Fran Weissler purchased the stage rights to the film 'Waitress' shortly after its release in 2007 and announced a musical adaptation to be in the works following the 2013 Tony Awards.
International Productions
Waitress featured international productions including a non-replica debut in Manila, Philippines in November 2018, and a Spanish language version in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2019.
The Japanese production of 'Waitress' was the first to open globally after the COVID-19 lockdown. It premiered in Tokyo on March 9, 2021, featuring Mitsuki Takahata and Mamoru Miyano.
A Danish-language 'Waitress' production in Copenhagen was postponed to April 2021 and featured Maria Lucia Rosenberg and Lars Mølsted.
Warsaw's Teatr Muzyczny Roma announced a Polish production of 'Waitress', becoming the fourth non-replica production worldwide.
Waitress' Polish version, translated by Michał Wojnarowski, opened on May 30, 2021.
In 2023, the Cameri Theater in Tel-Aviv scheduled the fifth non-replica production of 'Waitress', to be performed in Hebrew.
The French-speaking premiere of 'Waitress' is set for the summer of 2024 in Montreal and Quebec City, starring Marie-Eve Janvier and produced by ComediHa!.
Production Facts
Waitress is a musical that features an all-female production team including director Diane Paulus, composer and lyricist Sara Bareilles, book adaptor Jessie Nelson, and choreographer Lorin Latarro.
The musical debuted on Broadway at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre in April 2016 following a successful tryout at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Sara Bareilles played the role of Jenna during the 2021 limited Broadway engagement at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, marking one of the few times a composer of a musical starred in their own work.
During the Cambridge production of Waitress, Jessie Mueller, who played Jenna, won the IRNE Award for Best Actress in a Musical.
On Broadway, real pies were warmed in the theater to create the aroma of a pie shop, enhancing the audience's immersive experience.
The Broadway production of Waitress included multiple notable cast replacements, among them Sara Bareilles, Katharine McPhee, and Jordin Sparks as Jenna.
The 2021 Broadway production of 'Waitress', starring Bareilles and Gehling, was filmed and premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 12, 2023.
In 2018, June Squibb's character in 'Waitress' on Broadway was changed from 'Joe' to 'Josie', leading to the modification of the song title and lyrics involving the word 'Man' to 'Ma'am'.