Ciara Renée and Tony nominee Joshua Henry recently joined the cast of Broadway’s Waitress, as, respectively, Jenna and Dr. Pomatter. Watch the two artists duet on Sara Bareilles' "You Matter to Me" from her Tony-nominated score to the hit musical.
Renée starred as Elsa in Disney’s Frozen on Broadway before the shutdown last year. Previously, she appeared in the Off-Broadway musical The Wrong Man, opposite Henry and Ryan Vazquez (also an alum of Waitress). Her additional credits include Big Fish and Pippin on Broadway and The Hunchback of Notre Dame at La Jolla Playhouse and Paper Mill Playhouse. Her screen credits include the final season of The Big Bang Theory, Master of None, and Legends of Tomorrow. Up next, she will star in the indie film Paint, opposite Owen Wilson, and the dramedy Deborah.
Henry earned Tony nominations for The Scottsboro Boys, Violet, and, most recently, Carousel; his additional stage credits include Hamilton, The Wrong Man, and Porgy & Bess. On screen, he currently appears alongside Jason Momoa in Apple TV+’s See, and can be seen in the film adaptation of tick, tick…BOOM!.
Waitress returned to Broadway in September for a limited engagement through January 9, 2022, at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Bareilles, who penned the score for the musical, played Jenna through October 17. Grammy winner Jennifer Nettles took over as Jenna October 19.
The current cast of Waitress also includes Eric Anderson as Cal, Ashley Blanchet as Dawn, Dakin Matthews as Joe, Tyrone Davis, Jr. as Ogie, Ben Thompson as Earl, and Maiesha McQueen as Becky, alongside Mark Christine, Matt DeAngelis, Andrew Fitch, Henry Gottfried, Brandon Kalm, Emily Koch, Olivia Webber Olesen, Gerianne Pérez, Olivia Lucy Phillip, Grace Stockdale, Charlotte Surak, Cherise Thomas, Curtis Thomas, Stephanie Torns, Nyla Watson, McKenzie Melia Calderon, and Ava Kacey Thomas.
The original Broadway production opened at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre April 24, 2016, making history as the first Broadway musical to have women in the four top creative spots: composer-lyricist Bareilles, book writer Jessie Nelson, director Diane Paulus, and choreographer Lorin Latarro. The production played 33 previews and 1,544 regular performances before closing January 5, 2020, earning four Tony nominations including Best Original Score and Best Musical.
