Sarah Aili in “Waitress” at Nashville Repertory Theatre.
The musical Waitress charmed Broadway audiences in its 2016-21 premiere run. Now regional theatres are dipping their spoons for a taste. The story of Jenna, a young woman stuck in a bad marriage and a dead-end job at a small-town diner who finds solace in baking, started as an independent film starring Keri Russell and eventually made its way to the stage with catchy tunes by Grammy winner Sara Bareilles. As the 2024-25 season unfolds, 10 theatres are producing the endearing musical, which comes with the creative challenge and opportunity of depicting more than two dozen prop pies onstage, plus some edible ones.
At Nashville Repertory Theatre in Tennessee, where Waitress runs Sept. 13-22, prop designer Marlee Shelton and technical director/scenic designer Gary Hoff have been experimenting with insulation, air-dried clay, and foam to capture the texture of the stage pies. Shelton said she’s also been playing with shredded cork for savory pie filling and sawdust for coconut shavings. Added Hoff, “The really fun thing about making fake food is that you get to look at your world in a different way.”
Foam is also on the menu at Northern Stage in White River Junction, Vt., where properties manager Ellen Houldren is using joint compound to depict whipped cream spirals and gluing plastic fruit onto the surface. (The musical will hit the stage there March 12-April 13, 2025.) Though making fake food is one of Houldren’s favorite things to do, sometimes real food is the most economical option. “For Sweat I had to make a full cake for every single performance because of the scene where one of the characters takes a fistful of cake,” she recalled. “It made me feel like I connected with the cast in a different way.”
At Aurora Theatre in Lawrenceville, Ga., where Waitress will be onstage May 22-June 22, 2025, production manager Katie Chambers and props designer Kristin Talley are also turning to insulating foam for the prop pies. But many of their conversations have been about consumables. For other shows, Chambers said she used whipped cream without filling so actors could eat quickly, then belt out a song. Another time she used instant mashed potatoes for cupcake frosting because the actors didn’t want to eat sweets.
No matter the ingredients, all the designers agree that the most important thing is to make audiences feel like they’re in the diner with Jenna and on the journey with her.
“You can always get yourself out and make a different decision,” Houldren said of the show’s takeaway. “Sometimes we forget that and we get stuck in our routine. People should feel encouraged to follow their dreams and make big moves.”
Kelundra Smith is the director of publishing for American Theatre and TCG Books.
