It’s coming on Christmas. We want to feel good. “Waitress,” at San Francisco Playhouse, adapted for the stage by Jessie Nelson with Music and Lyrics by Sara Bareilles, gives us a healthy dose of home-baked kitsch guaranteed to raise our spirits. It’s not a perfect musical and the SFP version, directed by Susi Damilano, runs long. But judging from the applause from a Sunday matinee audience, no one minds jumping into this story with both forks. After the curtain, lots of people can be seen ordering and consuming pieces of pie from the snack stand.
Ruby Day plays Jenna, a pregnant waitress who isn’t so sure she wants this baby. Her husband Earl (Ben Euphrat) is an out-of-work creep, so bad that Jenna is anxious to have a fling with her gynecologist Dr. Pomatter (Zeke Edmonds).
This might seem a little weird but no weirder than fellow-waitress Dawn (Sharon Shao) being attracted to weirdo and fellow Revolutionary War re-enacter Ogie (Michael Parrott).
We really like both Edmonds and Parrott, though Edmond’s Dr. Pomatter would certainly lose his medical license if he actually did what he does while his pregnant patient has her legs spread. It’s ludicrous, but strangely…OK. Meanwhile, Shao manages to make us believe she could care for a love interest with a terrible mullet who spouts such bad poetry.
Jenna is the world’s greatest pie baker. Her pies seem to turn otherwise-normal people into mush. She is certain to win the Grand Prize at the upcoming Pie Contest. Or is she?
You just have to suspend your disbelief and go with the pie.
RATINGS ★★★BANG
The San Francisco Theater Blog Awards Division is in favor of Edible Art. We grant “Waitress” Three Stars with a Bangle of Praise. We loved the way the band is located in a rear alcove that looks like an extension of Joe’s Pie Diner. They get the most from a relatively bland score that makes non-hummable songs seem downright tasty.
“Waitress”
San Francisco Playhouse
450 Post St. (2d floor of Kensington Park Hotel), San Francisco
Through Jan 18, 2025
$35-$135
