Theater Review

Waitress has all the ingredients for a hit at Dallas Summer Musicals

Charity Angel, Dawson Desi Oakley, and Lenne Klingaman in the National Tour of Waitress

Charity Angél Dawson, Desi Oakley, and Lenne Klingaman lead the national tour cast.

Photo by Joan Marcus

When you are literally the target demo for Waitress, the Sara Bareilles musical based on Adrienne Shelly's indie film, it's that much harder to pinpoint why you don't like it. Each visit I pay to the show, which is still running on Broadway and comes to town via Dallas Summer Musicals, feels to me as artificial as store-bought pie crust.

One guess is that its heart is buried under layers of syrupy shtick, as broad and as bland as a bad sitcom. Director Diane Paulus, who was behind the similarly cloying Finding Neverland but also the gut-wrenching production of The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, has here used the tactic that served her well for the Pippin revival: rely on spectacle to distract.

Now, you won't find any literal hoop-jumping in Waitress; the spectacle here is Bareilles' score (and the real pies used onstage, which are peddled to the audience as gloppy apple soup in a tiny Mason jar). The remarkable theatrical effort works just as well — better, even — as a solo album from the decorated songstress, blending her soft-rock hooks with clever, soul-searching melodies and a hint of playfulness.

Jessie Mueller was fresh from portraying Carole King in Beautiful when she tied on the diner apron of protagonist Jenna Hunterson, and Bareilles herself took a few spins onstage in the role (DSM gala star Katharine McPhee is next to join the Broadway cast). On tour, Desi Oakley brings a throatier tone to the songs, many of which are Jenna's wistful longings about leaving her abusive husband and winning a lucrative pie-making contest.

These "pie reveries," where Jenna recites ingredients that echo her emotions and help act out her fantasies, add a dollop of genuine whimsy to Jessie Nelson's otherwise contrived book.

This is a world where the waitresses are always wisecracking and the male townies are as dense as their heavy tool boxes, and everyone's Southern accent is so thick you could stir it with a spatula. The diner where Jenna and her two best gal pals — one brassy and sassy (Charity Angél Dawson), one timid and quirky (Lenne Klingaman) — is always full up with regulars, but on closer inspection it's mainly because this show needs bodies to move its scenery, and sometimes sway a little in the background (Lorin Latarro's choreography is very much of the step-touch variety).

Even the Yankee interloper, Dr. Pomatter, is afflicted with too many tics and twitches to render him an actual human. Bryan Fenkart works miracles in making each of the nervous doc's flinches and stutters feel spontaneous, and he projects such a solid nice-guy front that it's easy to forget he's cheating on his wife with Jenna, his new patient who has a newly unwanted pregnancy from her mean lunk of a husband (Hood's Nick Bailey).

If you've read this far, you might wonder, "what's your problem with this show? It all sounds fine." And that's exactly it: It's fine. It's adequate. It'll do. The groan-worthy jokes drown out the gravity, there's a scene-stealing character who pretty much stops the show with his athletic ode to clingy relationships (yes, Jeremy Morse milks it here), and you get to smell pie baking for two-and-a-half hours. Show after show, the majority of the audience will most likely leave thinking they had a really great time.

But for a woman-centered musical developed by an all-female creative team and scored by the magnificent music of Sara Bareilles, it continues to feel sadly, overwhelming, disappointingly underdone. We got store-bought, and what we deserve is homemade.

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Dallas Summer Musical's presentation of the national tour of Waitress runs at the Music Hall at Fair Park through April 8.

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Drama kings

Dallas theater lures new leaders away from Hollywood and Broadway

Photo courtesy of Lyric Stage

Malcolm Goodwin is an actor, director, and producer familiar for roles in Reacher, iZombie, and The Fall of the House of Usher.

Dallas theater company Lyric Stage has looked to Hollywood and Broadway for new leadership, hiring film and television actor and director Malcolm Goodwin and Broadway veteran Victor Hawks as the theater company's new co-artistic directors.

The appointments mark a new chapter for the company, which was founded in 1993 by Steven Jones, executive director Catherine Carpenter Cox says in a November 2 announcement.

Goodwin and Hawks are the co-founders of Team Vision Entertainment, a production company developing and producing film, television, and theater projects.

Their longstanding creative partnership will now extend to Lyric Stage, where they will work alongside Cox to develop programming, support new works, and strengthen the organization's connections to the broader entertainment industry, a press release says.

Goodwin is an actor, director, and producer best known for roles in Amazon Prime Video's Reacher and The CW's iZombie. Other credits include The Fall of the House of Usher, American Gangster, and Spike Lee's Miracle at St. Anna.

His new role at Lyric Stage brings him back to the art form that first inspired his career.

"Theater is where I first learned how to tell stories and where I discovered that I loved every part of the creative process, not just performing," Goodwin says in the release. "I was building theaters, working with lighting and sound, and learning how everything comes together to create something special for an audience. Being able to return to that world and help create opportunities for other artists is incredibly meaningful to me."

Hawks brings an extensive Broadway background to his new position, having appeared in the original Broadway company of Urinetown the Musical, the 2006 Broadway revival of Les Misérables, South Pacific at Lincoln Center, and The Producers national tour.

Victor Hawks, Lyric Stage Victor Hawks.Photo courtesy of Lyric Stage

"Musical theater changed the direction of my life," Hawks says in a statement. "I know firsthand what happens when someone gives a young performer an opportunity to learn, grow and be part of something bigger than themselves. That's what makes this next chapter so exciting. Lyric Stage already has an incredible history, and we want to build on that by creating great theater and opening doors for artists who are just beginning their journeys."

Over the past three decades, Lyric Stage has earned a reputation for its professional productions, world premieres, and restoration of classic Broadway works, with a big focus on musicals.

For Cox, the appointments are about bringing together artists who understand the importance of theater while offering the experience and relationships to help the organization grow.

"Steven Jones built something truly special with Lyric Stage, and we have a responsibility to honor what he created while continuing to move the organization forward," Cox says. "Malcolm and Victor have built remarkable careers in entertainment, but what I love most is that theatre is where both of their journeys began. They understand what the stage can mean to an artist, and they share my passion for creating opportunities for the next generation."

Cox also recently moved into a new role as director, making her directorial debut with Lyric Stage's production of the musical Godspell, which finished its run on October 25.

Upcoming Lyric Stage productions include A Very Lyric Christmas, A Chorus Line, Newsies, and Once.

Future planned endeavors for the company include Lyric Stage Academy, an educational program designed to introduce young people to the performing arts, as well as Children's Theatre, Summer Stock, professional training opportunities, a New Works Lab, and master classes.

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