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

I imagine the size of the theatre is a big factor, but I think it's their pricing that has killed this. They are charging high ticket prices, but don't have the draw (yet) to support that. The film/story is not well known; the lead is not a household name; and they haven't done much promotion or built any hype. People don't know the show or the music.

I'm saying this from memory, but didn't Hamilton have more affordable tickets than this during it's first booking period? I have no knowledge of the budgeting/finance involved in staging a West End transfer, but to me it's greed by the producers. No dynamic pricing, no offers, no online rush, and they don't appear to be very accommodating with day seats (until yesterday, Mon-Wed only) for people queuing for hours. How exactly are they expecting to fill a theatre of that size?

I was really hoping to see this show as I love the OBC, so I am genuinely sad if this does close in the next few months.

Thanks for reassuring me!! Fingers crossed it will be, was just panicking that I wouldn't get to see it. Can't wait to see Katherine!

Did anyone see this tweet, it’s pretty heartbreaking. From a 20 year old young woman who is terminally ill who posted about how seeing Waitress meant so much to her. 😭🥰 It’s sweet that a lot of the cast have replied and reached out to her. 🙌❤️

What a lovely and heartbreaking email. How wonderful that Katherine McPhee and others have messaged her.

Baz seems to insinuate that Joseph will be replacing Waitress after it has finished its Palladium run this Summer.
Whether you like Waitress or not, (I thoroughly enjoyed it Last Saturday), it will be sad to see a Show new to the West End close so quickly.
It's the ticket prices that are to blame rather than the quality of the show and the superb cast.

He is? Can’t seem to find that tweet.

Aah ok thank you. Makes good sense to keep the theatre from being empty if Waitress does prematurely shutter.

What we don’t need is empty West End theatres.

I agree. I’d much much rather see new shows in the West End, either brand new shows like ‘& Juliet’ or Broadway transfers. Joseph is already at the Palladium for Summer, people who want to see it can see it then! If it does transfer to the Adelphi, I really do hope it isn’t for an open-ended run. The Adelphi is such a good theatre it would be a shame to see it with this for ages, Mean Girls would fit there so well - perfect size for it and works well in terms of location.

I’ll be very sad to see this one go if it dies in the summer, went last night for 2nd time & absolutely love it!! Well if it does have to end sooner then I plan to go to the closing show, such a wonderful show!

Sad thing is it’s caught on well enough, just not to be sustainable long term in such a large theatre but that was everyone’s concern from the very moment they chose the Adelphi. You live and die by these decisions I guess. 

Yeah, I just don’t know how the decisions are made. I mean the Adelphi is a prestige theatre and so if it becomes available it might be hard to turn down. In answer to your points:

- Yeah, I know NYC is a different market, but when the Brooks Atkinson has a capacity of just over a 1,000 and that hasn’t been selling at 100% capacity since its first year (and the only times it’s come close in the last year or so was when Sara Bareilles, Jason Mraz and Kat McPhee have played Jenna) you’d think they would have been more cautious with the venue they picked.

- True but I don’t think it was a well known film in America either. The Sara Bareilles factor def helped sell it in the States, and it’s southern charm has wide appeal there I think.

- Yeah, Sara’s really not that we’ll known here to the masses, so I don’t think she’s been much of a factor in selling the show in the UK. When I mentioned the show to my sister in law she was pretty much “Sara who?” 😃

- Well to be fair, I don’t think they think they have star cast the show. Kat McPhee is, however, at least as, if not more, recognisable than the current crop of West End stars that were mooted for Jenna. Realisitically, if they were wanting a big star name as Jenna who would also be up to the task vocally and sell a ton of tickets on name alone I think they would have struggled to find someone. I can really only think of Sheridan Smith, and I’d personally question if she’d have the chops for Jenna (although there’s no doubting she’d bring in the punters). Samantha Barks maybe because of the Les Mis factor, but I don’t think she’s really that big a name to the masses either. She wasn’t available anyway!