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Educational Toolkit

Photo: Joan MarcusWaitress Educational ToolkitWelcome to Waitress on Broadway! Based upon the motionpicture written by Adrienne Shelly, Waitress tells the story ofJenna, a waitress and expert pie maker stuck in a small town anda loveless marriage. Waitress celebrates friendship, motherhood,and the courage it takes to pluck a long abandoned dream off theshelf.This Toolkit provides background info on the people, stories, andsongs behind Waitress and exercises for exploring the importantthemes and relationship dynamics in the play.EXPERIENCEStories in Song: An Interview with Waitress Composer Sara Bareilles.3Hidden Strenghts: Waitress Star Jessie Mueller .5A Scene from Waitress.7A Song from Waitress.8From Diners to Fine Dining.9Bad Love on Stage and Screen.10ENGAGELesson Plan: Personality Pie.11Worksheet: Personality Pie.13Lesson Plan: Order Up!.14The ABC’s of Diner Lingo.16Lesson Plan: Waitress Dodgeball.17Compiled by Brenna Nicely and designed by Robert Duffley, American Repertory TheaterWaitress Educational Toolkit2

Photo: Gretjen HeleneSara Bareilles talks with students fromAmerican Repertory Theater and 826Boston’s WORDplay Summer Theaterand Writing Camp.Stories in SongAn Interview with WaitressComposer Sara BareillesBy Amanda Faye MartinAMANDA FAYE MARTIN: How did yourinvolvement with Waitress begin? Whatattracted you to the project?AFM: Many of the songs on your last album,The Blessed Unrest, deal with the themes ofWaitress: asking for strength (“Hercules”),moving forward (“Chasing the Sun”), andyou’ve said “Islands” is about having “to beyour own island to exist. You have to be okbeing alone.” What has it been like to explorethese themes differently, writing for a musicalrather than another solo album?SB: I write autobiographically, so it has beenchallenging but so exciting to embrace this. Ireally connected to the lead character, Jenna.She is deeply flawed, pained, and broken, butalso has so much strength and soul. WhenI first watched the movie, I was compelledby the lowest point in her character arc, andthat was what made me want to go to thepiano. The first song I wrote was “She Usedto Be Mine,” which is about that phenomenonof waking up and looking at yourself andWaitress Educational ToolkitEXPERIENCESARA BAREILLES: Diane Paulus first toldme about the project over lunch a little overtwo years ago. I was certainly interested,but nervous because it felt like a hugeundertaking. I had no experience writing inthis format, but my first love was musicaltheater. Growing up, I devoured shows likeThe Secret Garden, Little Shop of Horrors,The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Phantom of theOpera, Les Misérables, Chess, Oklahoma!, andMiss Saigon. They informed how I listenedto music, and I think my being a storytellerwas also influenced by that kind of writing.I watched the Adrienne Shelly film after Imet with Diane, and the material spoke tome. I thought it was charming and heartfelt,and that there was a beautiful foundation todevelop into a musical. I made a pact thatI would do it with the condition that if itwasn’t going well, Diane would tap me on theshoulder and let me know. And nobody hastapped me on the shoulder yet!3

Stories in Song, cont.realizing there’s a part of you that doesn’trecognize who you are anymore. I also fell inlove with all the other characters and theirquirks. The character Ogie, who is the oddballlove interest of one of Jenna’s waitressingThe first song I wrote was“She Used to Be Mine,”which is about thatphenomenon of waking upand looking at yourself andrealizing there’s a part ofyou that doesn’t recognizewho you are anymore.buddies, is so funny, so warm, so delightful.I had a great time playing with humor inthe writing and capturing this really quirkycharacter with sound. I found likenessesbetween myself and each character, andthat’s how I’ve been able to tell their stories.Writing the score has also liberated myprocess, because I had gotten used to writingin a specific format with a particular goalin mind. It’s not about “will this song makesense on the radio?” It’s more, “am I helpingthe audience understand the heart and soulof this character?”AFM: You’ve said you consider yourself afeminist. Why do you think Jenna’s story isimportant to tell now in this country?AFM: You’ve worked with other artists before,but how has this project for the theater beendifferent?SB: This is by far the most collaborativething I’ve ever done, and that is both superchallenging and exhilarating. I think thereason people collaborate is because thewhole is greater than the sum of its parts.Diane is visionary, brave, and bold, and I lovethat she has very high expectations. She isdeeply collaborative, and so good at findingthe gems and knowing when things needto be deepened and pushed further. I feellike I’ve hit the jackpot getting to learn fromsomeone like her during my first professionalexperience in the theater. DISCUSSION What does it take for acollaborative project to besuccessful? How do you draw creativeinspiration from your own life?AFM: Did your upbringing in a small town inCalifornia help you capture that world?Waitress Educational ToolkitEXPERIENCESB: We’re dealing with a woman in an abusiverelationship who has to find strength withinherself and within her community. One ofthe things I love about this story is that ithighlights sisterhood amongst friends. I alsothink there is so much happening right nowthat celebrates what it means to embody afemale spirit, and how that is evolving andchanging for each new generation. The storydeals with traditional value systems, but we’rechallenging them within the world of themusical.SB: I encountered a lot of these charactersgrowing up in Eureka—people who have bigdreams that never came to life because theynever got out of town, and people who areperfectly content, who made a wonderful lifein a tight-knit community. You were nevermore than a couple degrees of separationfrom anybody else, so I really relate to that. Ialso worked as a waitress for a long time—allthrough my college years, and post-collegewhen I first formed a band. I actually lovedbeing a waitress. It’s hard work, but it’salso really gratifying and social. And thatexperience has definitely informed some ofthe Waitress lyrics. I worked at a little beerbar in Santa Monica after I graduated fromUCLA. We had regular patrons who came inevery single day. It was a unique experiencebecause I knew them, and at the same timedidn’t know everything about them. But thebar provided a sense of familiarity and asense of home.4

Hidden StrengthsWaitress Star Jessie Mueller GivesVoice to VulnerabilityPhoto: Joan MarcusJessie Mueller working with SaraBareilles on the music for Waitress.Mueller as Carole King in Beautiful:The Carole King MusicalWaitress Educational ToolkitEXPERIENCE“Life is like a pie,” reflects actress JessieMueller. “You have to have a sturdy, flaky,buttery crust in order to hold your filling.” Asshe explains where to find the best bananacream pie in New York City (Joe Allen), whyfruit pies are only good homemade, and thesecret to her mother’s strawberry rhubarb,it’s easy to see how Mueller’s down-toearth charm has made her one of the mostcelebrated musical theater performers in thecountry. In 2014, she won the Tony Awardfor Best Actress in a Musical for her heartfeltportrayal of Carole King in Beautiful, anoriginal biographical musical about theiconic singer. In rehearsals for the worldpremiere production of the musical Waitress,Mueller brings that same extraordinaryvoice to the character Jenna, an expert piemaker stuck in a small town and a lovelessmarriage. Whether she’s singing one of SaraBareilles’ moving ballads or chatting abouther favorite Midwestern pie chain, Muellerexudes sincerity and warmth.The daughter of two actors andsister of three siblings who are also allperformers, Mueller grew up in suburbanChicago surrounded by theater. She neverfelt pressured by her family to perform,but was attracted to the process andculture of theater. “It was my parents’ joband I understood there was a lot of workinvolved from an early age,” she remembers.“But I also saw the camaraderie. I saw myparents’ friends with them after a show. Isaw that world – it’s unlike anything else.”Mueller began acting in high school, andlater studied theater as an undergraduate atSyracuse University. Returning to Chicagoafter graduation, she was quickly recognizedfor her remarkable voice and captivatingstage presence. Within a year, Mueller landeda role at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater,and then continued to perform at many ofChicago’s leading theaters, winning her firstJoseph Jefferson Award in 2008 in Carouseland another in 2011 in She Loves Me. InPhoto: Jimmy RyanBy Amanda Faye Martin5

Hidden Strengths, cont.Photo: Joan Marcus2011, Mueller madeher Broadway debutplaying the romanticlead in On a Clear DayYou Can See Forever.Since then, she hasperformed in Into theWoods at the PublicTheater and Broadwayproductions of TheMystery of Edwin Droodand Nice Work If YouCan Get It in 2012. Herpoignant performancein Beautiful inspiredJessie Mueller in Waitress.Carole King to joinMueller onstage foran impromptu duet of“You’ve Got a Friend”she says. “They’re very open to feedbackat the 2014 Broadway Cares/Equity Fightsfrom actors, and they’re great collaboratorsAIDS fundraising event.and communicators.” The music writtenAn inquisitive actress who is deeplyby Grammy-nominated singer-songwriterinspired by the developmental process,Sara Bareilles has played a critical role inMueller’s exploration of her character’shelping Mueller develop her character, andpsychology and voice in rehearsal isshe’s found an artistic kinship with the popinvaluable. She explains that the relationshipstar. “It’s beautiful what artists like Sara do,among Waitress director Diane Paulus,because they’re working through their stuffbook writer Jessie Nelson, and composerand letting us into it,” she observes. “Sara’sSara Bareilles has influenced her ownmusic makes you feel like, ‘Oh, you wrote thatcollaborative approach to new work. “I likeabout me, didn’t you?’ And of course shethe way those ladies all work together,”didn’t, but that’s what a good song can do.”Mueller’s characters in both Beautifuland Waitress have been admired fortheir strength and resilience. In Beautiful,DISCUSSIONCarole King rises to stardom and reclaimsindependence after a failed marriage; Jessie Mueller says, “life is likein Waitress, Jenna aspires to get morea pie.” Do you agree with thisout of life after years stuck in an abusivemetaphor? How would yourelationship. Both characters confrontromantic and professional challenges, andexpand on it?persevere by pursuing their dreams and In the previous interview,working through something in themselves.“People say they relate to the strength inSara Bareilles describesthe characters I play,” says Mueller. “Buther songwriting process asI think what they’re really relating to isautobiographical. Based onmy characters’ vulnerability. I think that’sthis portrait of Mueller and herwhere most of the connection comes from—character Jenna in Waitress,that’s where the empathy comes from. Thestrength of a character doesn’t really existdo you think an actor’s processwithout the vulnerability.” can also be autobiographical?Waitress Educational ToolkitEXPERIENCEIn what way?6