Late to the party again. Sometimes a show doesn’t catch my imagination and stays on the back burner for a while, and so it was with this. A few gaps in my diary and a ticket offer and there I was having my preconceptions confounded by a show nowhere near my American schmaltzy expectations.
It’s based on the late Adrienne Shelly’s film (which I haven’t seen) and revolves around Jenna, a pie-maker / waitress at Joe’s Diner, in an abusive marriage to bully Earl. Her co-worker Becky is carer to her partner and other co-worker, singleton Dawn, has never even had a date. They move between pie-making and serving whilst Becky manages an affair with another co-worker Cal, Dawn is persuaded to use a dating app and finds her soulmate Ogle and Jenna gets an unwanted pregnancy which leads to an unlikely love affair with her married gynaecologist!
What stops the show becoming sentimental is its quirkiness and the inclusion of issues like abuse, infidelity and sickness, yet it’s still very funny. Sara Bareilles’ excellent score has a great mix of ballads and upbeat numbers, very original for musical theatre I thought. Jessie Nelson’s funny, cheeky book makes it zip along. It’s a real feel-good story.
Katharine McPhee is hugely impressive in the lead role of Jenna, with her sidekicks both superb – Laura Baldwin as Dawn and Marisha Wallace (who wowed my as the alternate Effie in Dreamgirls) as Becky. I’ve enjoyed watching David Hunter progress through the fringe to leading roles and here as Dr Pomatter he shows a real flair for comedy too. The sometimes onstage band sound great and Diane Paulus production is extremely slick.
I’ve gone from not sure I want to go to go again!
Gareth's Culture and Travel Blog 