Waitress (Broadway) NYC Reviews and Tickets
About the Show
Production Covid-19 Safety ProtocolsShow-Score Member Reviews (5,020)
See it if you enjoy strong female leads and clever songs!
Don't see it if you're super into the patriarchy.
See it if Beautiful story, great music and wonderful acting.
Don't see it if You prefer to see one of those plays no one understands or enjoys.
See it if you like musicals. Everything is amazing: the songs, singing, acting, plot. Severely underrated.
Don't see it if you don't like musicals. It is very much a musical with musical-type music.
See it if The musical score is magical and powerful. You will be humming all the songs leaving the theatre.
Don't see it if If you don't like musicals, then this is not your kind of show.
See it if You like musicals that have it all. Great singing, music, acting - funny, sad and a happy ending! I had low expectations - I was wrong!
Don't see it if I can’t think of why you wouldn’t want to see this!
See it if the story line was excellent
Don't see it if you do not like good acting
See it if you want to be truly moved and deeply entertained by a beautiful and fresh piece of theatre.
Don't see it if you don't enjoy splashy musicals that can make you laugh and cry, or you want to passively view and not engage with a piece.
See it if you love quirky upbeat musicals. This show has serious themes and is done incredibly beautifully.
Don't see it if You are not a fan of Sara Barellies' music. All of the music is notably hers.
Critic Reviews (53)
"It is the warmth of the ensemble, the intimate harmonics of Sara Bareilles' music, the fluid fusion of Diane Paulus' staging and, above all, the flaky layers of vulnerability exposed by the show's golden star, Jessie Mueller, that matter most...Mueller's is a performance stripped of condescension, lived in the moment and rich in musical pleasures...Paulus and Latarro know when to use their ensemble and when to keep it in the booths and leave the stage to Mueller."
Read more
"From score to casting, book to staging, everything comes together with a deceiving ease. Jessie Mueller is the heart and soul of the show as Jenna. No wonder she takes so easily to Bareilles’ score: The songwriter’s piano-driven style combines storytelling and catchy melodies...The show is also better than the movie in how it creates a tightknit, affectionate community onstage."
Read more
"'Waitress' is a sweet slice of a show that shines with the help of a star ingredient: Tony winner Jessie Mueller...Bareilles has crafted an upbeat, tuneful score that sounds akin to the pop sounds she’s known for with layered harmonies and ballads alongside lively numbers...'Waitress' is warm and endearing, but, like Jenna, it yearns to go somewhere it can’t quite get to. Luckily, the sweetest moments are filling enough."
Read more
"Admittedly, the comic coincidences and plot conveniences don't stand the test of realism and the ending is sentimental in a non-rom-com way. But the show's heart is earned through the beauty and integrity of Mueller's work...'Waitress' wears its flaws on its uniform sleeve, but the naked honesty of Mueller's singing is enough to make an overscheduled theater critic wish that the curtain would never come down."
Read more
"It’s a tall order to combine romantic comedy with troubling depictions of spousal abuse...Nevertheless, the characters are authentic and surprising, and it ends with a heartwarming climax...Bareilles’ country-flavored, cute and quirky, introspective songs are nicely integrated into Jessie Nelson’s book...A few questionable choices stick out, like putting the band prominently onstage on a moving platform...Mueller looks browbeaten most of the time, but she has a warm aura and a stunning voice."
Read more
"The cast and creative team behind 'Waitress' pulls off a rare feat: They give us a big, happy musical comedy that simultaneously manages to push the form in exciting ways. 'Waitress' is a definite winner...The earnest anxiety of the story is superbly conveyed through a score by singer-songwriter Bareilles...Her gorgeous lyrics move the plot forward while deepening the emotional world of the characters, bringing the best of a pop sensibility to musical theater."
Read more
“Truth be told, Bareilles' music, marked by bouncy piano vamps and melodies that sometimes ache with longing, are generally better than her lyrics...Overall, this is a fairly auspicious debut...The trouble with ‘Waitress’ lies in the book, which is much broader and brassier than its source material, it gets carried away with its wacky secondary characters...It's a show best enjoyed in its more intimate moments; every time it adopts hard-sell tactics, much of its charm fades away.”
Read more
"Librettist Nelson, songwriter Bareilles, and director Paulus struggle mightily with such elemental theatrical-cooking concepts as ingredients, blending, and seasoning, resulting in a show that is unquestionably flavorless...Bareilles's songs aren't terrible, but they are terrible theatre music...Paulus's direction is fluid but watery, the choreography is at once energetic and listless, and the design looks drab and cheap."
Read more