In honor of Pi Day, Playbill is looking back at the Broadway run of Waitress. The musical opened at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre April 24, 2016, making history as the first Broadway musical to have four women in the four top creative spots: composer Sara Bareilles, book writer Jessie Nelson, director Diane Paulus, and choreographer Lorin Latarro. Bareilles earned Tony and Grammy nominations for her work on the score.
Waitress played 33 previews and 1,544 regular performances. The original Broadway cast starred Jessie Mueller as Jenna, Keala Settle as Becky, Kimiko Glenn as Dawn, Drew Gehling as Dr. Pomatter, Nick Cordero as Earl, Dakin Matthews as Joe, Eric Anderson as Cal, Christopher Fitzgerald as Ogie, Charity Angél Dawson as Nurse Norma, and Claire Keane and McKenna Keane as Lulu with Thay Floyd, Molly Hager, Aisha Jackson, Jeremy Morse, Stephanie Torns, and Ryan Vasquez rounding out the ensemble.
Keala Settle, Jessie Mueller and Kimiko Glenn in the original Broadway production of Waitress
Following Mueller’s Tony-nominated performance as Jenna, the role was played on Broadway by Shoshana Bean, Nicolette Robinson, Betsy Wolfe, Jordin Sparks, Allison Luff, Katharine McPhee, and Stephanie Torns as well as Bareilles herself for multiple stints. Other replacements have included Gavin Creel and Jason Mraz as Dr. Pomatter, Al Roker and June Squibb as Joe (the latter adopting the name Josie), Todrick Hall and Noah Galvin as Ogie, and Colleen Ballinger and Jenna Ushkowitz as Dawn.
Waitress features set design by Scott Pask, costumes by Suttirat Anne Larlarb, lighting by Christopher Akerlind, and sound design by Jonathan Deans. Casting is by Telsey + Co.
