Waitress - Adelphi Theatre / U.K. Tour / Cinema

I saw the matinee of this yesterday. I had previously seen it a few months ago, back when Catherine McPhee was in the role of Jenna, and spurred on by seeing WEL, I'd been wanting to go back and see Lucie Jones. The casting of Joe Sugg, who I grew to like watching Strictly last year 'sealed the deal' as it were.

I also believed her baking skills much more! Overall, I felt her performance was just astounding, and it's made me much more favourable towards the show as a whole. 

Joe Sugg has come in for a fair amount of criticism, but this is a small comedy role, that is practically marked out as 'the role to be "celebrity cast" by someone without any theatre experience'. As I watch his vlogs and social media, I know that he went to see the show before he auditioned for the role, has been in rehearsals for several weeks, and has been taking singing lessons for many months. His audition was filmed (by the producers), and it seems like the US Producers / Creatives approved his casting. I felt he was very good. In his first song there were some higher notes that he struggled to hit perfectly, but it was his third show, and he'll get better at this once his voice is used to the demands of this kind of work. His accent work was fine - it held all the way through, and I truly believed in his acting. Also, it turns out his comedy timing is spot on - Ogie has two especially funny lines, 


It should be borne in mind that this appearance by him is almost certainly a form of 'on the job training' before he goes on his 'variety' tour with Dianne next year, and to that end you can see that it's a nice little confidence booster for him, that also gets him used to how fully scripted theatre works. 

I'm also aware that his fans have come in for some criticism. I watched this from the Dress Circle, and no-one was whooping and hollering for him, no-one left early to try to Stage Door, and almost the entire audience was in fact very well behaved. I went around to the Stage Door afterwards, and there was a very respectful, very quiet queue, and certainly no-one was trying to walk in through the Stage Door (a criticism that has been genuinely levelled at Joe's fans!). Joe came out and started working his way down the queue, talking to everyone who'd waited. I was on the far side of the street, but he seemed to be lovely, and again, as he got to them, his fans were obviously excited, but polite and willing to wait their turn to meet him. I'm honestly annoyed by some of the criticism his fans get - shouldn't an expansion of the theatre audience be encouraged? I know full well that having booked for this, whoever they got tickets from will send mailers to try to encourage visits to other shows, and who knows what interest and enthusiasm this show might spark in someone? And as ever of course, the sole bad behaviour I did experience yesterday was from an older person behind me who muttered through the first number!

Seat - I had booked for Upper Circle, L34, which seemed acceptable from SeatPlan/TheatreMonkey. I fully admit that I was once again playing the Great Matinee Ticket Gamble, and was slightly betting on many of Joe's fans being in school/college/having to make a trip to London on the weekend, and was hoping to get bumped up. I did indeed get bumped - to M31 in the Dress Circle, and the Upper Circle was closed entirely. The Dress Circle was, at a guess, 85%+ full.  This seat itself was fine, but the legroom didn't allow for much comfort, and if you'd been taller than me (5 foot 5), then you'd start to struggle. Luckily however there was no-one to the side of me, so I could stretch that way. I have no idea what was happening down in the stalls.

Interested to know what Marisha has been auditioning for! I’d love her to stay here in the west end cos I think she’s fab, but if Dreamgirls does end up back on broadway I’d love to see her cast as Effie 😍

Influencers!!! Ha ha ha ha!

Saw the matinee today. 1st time and thought it was a wonderfully funny and heartwarming show. Found Joe mediocre, and lots of bum notes... I was thankful his character wasn’t given anything more to do. Lucie was fantastic and had goosebumps when she did her big number. Can’t wait to go back... when does Joe finish or when is he on holiday?

I was told Joe's contract is up on the 30th November but it could very likely be the 23rd if that's the next big cast change.

^Adelphi might be a bit of a squeeze for 8 million people lol

Booking extended till the 28th of March 2020!

I think it’s very unlikey for Lucie to leave so soon when this is her first proper leading West End role and she seems to be enjoying it so much. The rumour doesn’t seem to have any sources, it’s just people randomly tweeting like “I have a hunch”. The only reason I could see for Lucie leaving would be if they’ve got some big name to come in to do a Jenna stint.

Marisha Wallace is leaving on 10th October

Marisha’s leaving on the 10th of October! Sad to see her go but happy to have a £25 Row H circle ticket for her final show.

Edit: Haha all three of us at once!

I assume this means that she got whatever job she was auditioning for. Interesting to see what it will be...
I hope she gets an Olivier nomination for Becky because she has been really great in this role.