Waitress UK and Ireland Tour Announces Casting

Producers Barry & Fran Weissler and David Ian are delighted to announce casting for the first ever UK and Ireland tour of the smash hit romantic musical comedy WAITRESS opening at the New Wimbledon Theatre on 4^th September 2021. The show will star Lucie Jones as ‘Jenna’, Sandra Marvin as ‘Becky’, Evelyn Hoskins as ‘Dawn’ and Busted’s Matt Willis as ‘Dr Pomatter’. Tour and casting schedule below. www.waitressthemusical.co.uk

They will be joined by George Crawford as ‘Ogie’, Tamlyn Henderson as ‘Earl’ and Christopher D. Hunt as ‘Cal’. The company also includes Monique Ashe-Palmer, Amelia Atherton, Donal Brennan, Aimée Fisher, Nathanael Landskroner, Charlie Martin, Liam McHugh, Olivia Mitchell and Ben Morris. Further casting to be announced soon. 

Lucie Jones reprises the role of ‘Jenna’ having recently played the part in the West End production of the show at the Adelphi Theatre. Lucie first came to prominence in 2009 when she reached the finals of ITV’s The X Factor. Since then, her many West End theatre credits include ‘Cosette’ in Les Misérables at the Queen’s Theatre, ‘Victoria’ in American Psycho at the Almeida and ‘Maureen’ in RENT at The Other Palace. Her other credits include ‘Elle Woods’ in Legally Blonde at Leicester Curve, on UK Tour and at the South Korea Opera House, ‘Molly’ in the International tour of Ghost, ‘Meatloaf’ in the International Arena tour of We Will Rock You and ‘Holly’ in the UK tour of The Wedding Singer.

In 2017, Lucie represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev with the single ‘Never Give Up On You’, performing to a worldwide audience of over 300 million viewers. Last year Lucie performed a live concert to a sold-out audience at London’s Adelphi Theatre. Accompanied by the London Musical Theatre Orchestra, the concert was recorded for a live album ‘Lucie Jones – Live at The Adelphi’.

Having played ‘Jessie Grant’ in ITV’s Emmerdale for two years, Sandra Marvin joined the West End production of Waitress to play ‘Becky’. Her many other West End theatre credits include most recently ‘Mrs Fezziwig/Mrs Mops’ in A Christmas Carol at the Dominion Theatre, City of Angels and Committee at the Donmar Warehouse, ‘Miss Motormouth Maybelle’ in Hairspray at the Shaftesbury Theatre, ‘Queenie’ in Show Boat at the New London Theatre, ‘Rose’ in Stepping Out at the Vaudeville Theatre, Porgy and Bess at the Savoy Theatre and Ragtime and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. Her other credits include Romantics Anonymous at Bristol Old Vic and on tour in the US and ‘Mama Morton’ in Chicago at Leicester Curve. In 2016 Sandra performed with Kate Bush on her 22 date sold-out Before the Dawn concerts and features on her live album of the same name. Sandra also sings the title track on the Grammy Award winning soundtrack for the George Clooney film, Gravity.

Evelyn Hoskins most recently played the role of ‘Dawn’ in Waitress in the West End at the Adelphi Theatre. Her other theatre credits include the title role in Carrie at Southwark Playhouse, Spring Awakening at the Lyric Hammersmith and in the West End, Assassins at the Nottingham Playhouse and Watermill Theatre, Mrs Henderson Presents at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto, Peter and the Starcatcher at Northampton’s Royal & Derngate, This Is My Family at Sheffield Crucible and on UK Tour, The Boy Who Fell Into A Book at the Stephen Joseph Theatre and The Secret Garden at Birmingham Rep.

Matt Willis is probably best known as a member of the double Brit Award winning band Busted, who have released four No1 UK singles, two platinum albums and sold over four million albums in the UK. No stranger to the musical theatre stage, his West End credits include ‘Fiyero’ in Wicked at the Apollo Victoria, ‘Nick Hurley’ in Flashdance at the Shaftesbury Theatre and most recently ‘Bob Cratchit’ in A Christmas Carol at the Dominion Theatre. His other theatre credits include ‘Orin Scrivello’ in Little Shop of Horrors at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and ‘Chuck Cranson’ in the national tour of Footloose The Musical.

WAITRESS is based on the 2007 movie written by Adrienne Shelly. Music and lyrics are written by GRAMMY award-winning, singer-songwriter sensation Sara Bareilles, who appeared on the Graham Norton TV show, performing the hit song from the show She Used To Be Mine. With a book by Jessie Nelson, direction by Tony-award winner Diane Paulus and choreography by Lorin Latarro, Waitress has garnered multiple awards and nominations in both America and the UK, receiving acclaim from both audiences and critics alike.

WAITRESS opened on Broadway on 24th April 2016 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, where it ran until 5th January 2020. Waitress celebrated its official opening night at the Adelphi Theatre in London’s West End on 7 March 2019. The North American tour of Waitress is currently on hold due to COVID-19. Waitress is currently on tour in Japan (Japanese language production), and is set to open in Australia and Holland.

WAITRESS tells the story of Jenna, an expert pie maker in a small town, who dreams of a way out of her loveless marriage. A baking contest in a nearby county and the town’s new doctor may offer her a chance at a new life, while her fellow waitresses offer their own recipes to happiness. But Jenna must find the courage and strength within herself to rebuild her life. This beautiful musical celebrates friendship, motherhood, and the magic of a well-made pie.

Book by Jessie Nelson

Music and Lyrics by Grammy Award-winner Sara Bareilles

Based upon the motion picture written by Adrienne Shelly

Directed by Tony Award-winner Diane Paulus

WAITRESS was originally produced by Barry & Fran Weissler and Norton and Elayne Herrick. The tour is produced by Barry & Fran Weissler and David Ian Productions.