“Waitress the Musical”, which is the full presentation of the 2015 stage musical of the same name by Sara Bareilles and Jessie Nelson, is a pleasant experience packed with enough spirit and charm. Besides having a number of funny songs to remember, the movie is supported well by the game efforts from its cast members, and it also fluidly bounces from one moment to another without being too stagy at all during its rather long running time (144 minutes).

The reason why the movie interested me from the beginning is that Bareilles and Nelson’s stage musical is based on the 2007 film “Waitress”, which was directed and written by Adrienne Shelly (Some of you probably remember her tragic early death which happened not long before her movie came out, by the way). Although it has been almost 20 years since I watched the 2007 film, I still remember well how charming and likable it was, and I am glad to report to you that the stage musical version, whose 2016 Broadway production was quite successful as garnering several Tony nominations (It had no chance of winning at all at all mainly thanks to a certain mega-hit musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda), equally works with its own fun and charm.

Anyway, the movie was filmed during the 2021 Broadway production where Bareilles played the lead character, Jenna, instead of Jessie Mueller in the 2016 Broadway Production, and directors Brett Sullivan and Diane Paulus did a competent job of transferring the stage performance to the screen. While Paulus deftly handles the stage production itself, Sullivan and his crew flawlessly capture small and big moments on the stage, and the result is often vivid and engaging even when we are aware of the inherent stagy aspects of the film.

Like Shelly’s 2007 film, the stage musical mainly revolves around a sudden issue coming upon its heroine, who is a plain waitress working in a little diner in some small rural town. Because of what happened between her and her husband Joe (Joe Tippett) some time ago, Jenna reluctantly does a pregnancy test, and, what do you know, she gets a positive test result, and her pregnancy is soon confirmed when she visits a local clinic later.

However, Jenna does not tell anything to her husband, who is an abusive loser who does not care about anyone except himself. While not so sure about what to do about her ongoing pregnancy, she focuses on making her delicious special pies at the diner, and we often get amused as she sings about how to make her latest special pies.

And one of these special pies of hers leads Jenna to an unexpected affair between her and Dr. Pomatter (Drew Gehling), her new gynecologist. Right from when he tastes a bit of a pie given from her, he feels quite attracted to her, and she also finds herself drawn to him, but there is one serious problem. Just like her, he is married, and that makes both of them hesitate to get closer to her at first, but, of course, they come to follow what their hearts want in the end.

This is certainly a messy situation for our heroine, but the mood remains mostly light and cheerful thanks to the songs written by Bareilles herself. Right from the opening song “What’s Inside”, we get engaged in what may be served next along with Jenna’s special pies, and many of the songs in the stage musical are delightful as mixed with the right amount of amusement and poignancy. We are quite touched as watching Jenna singing “What Baking Can Do”, and then we are tickled by “Club Knocked Up”, which is brief but hilarious as she encounters several pregnant ladies at the clinic.

While it is mainly set in Jenna’s diner, the stage musical smoothly shuffles its several sets along the story, and the movie sometimes gets us closer to the performers and the sets. Thanks to editors Marko Keser, David Tregoning, and Sarah Broshar, the result does not feel limited or stuffy at all, and we accordingly get more immersed in what is going on the stage.

And we come to appreciate more of the spirited musical performances from the main cast members led by Bareilles. As Bareilles ably holds the center with her charming presence, Drew Gehling and Joe Tippett are effective as the two different men in Jenna’s life, and several other cast members including Charity Angél Dawson, Caitlin Houlahan, Dakin Matthews, Eric Anderson, and Christopher Fitzgerald have each own moment to shine along the story. While Dawson and Houlahan are often very sweet and funny as Jenna’s two contrasting friends/co-workers, Matthews and Anderson provide a bit of salty fun as required, and Fitzgerald, who was Tony-nominated for his performance in the 2016 Broadway production, instantly steals the show with his showstopper number “Never Ever Getting Rid of Me”. Yes, the song and his supporting character may feel rather creepy at first for a good reason (Just look at the very title of the song, folks), but Fitzgerald brashly goes all the way for more sincerity and hilarity, and you can eventually sense his character’s genuine affection toward Houlahan’s character.

In conclusion, “Waitress the Musical” is a solid experience thanks to not only its enjoyable music and songs but also how it skillfully presents the stage performance on the screen. Although it did not knock me down, it charmed and then entertained me enough on the whole, and now I want to revisit the 2007 film sooner or later. That says a lot about how effective the movie is, isn’t it?

Sidenote: The movie is dedicated to not only Shelly but also Nick Cordero, who played Joe in the 2016 Broadway production and unfortunately died in 2021 because of COVID-19-related complications.