Waitress

Act One

Waitress opens with the words ‘sugar, butter, flour,’ three essential ingredients of a pie, and three separate notes that converge into a dreamlike harmony. The scene rises on the protagonist, Jenna, a young woman in her 20s, standing before a kitchen counter and assembling a pie with great care and passion. This is a clearly intimate moment of peace and vulnerability for her within a chaotic life. While she makes the pie, she sings about the way combining ingredients in just the right way can help her sort through the disorganization of her thoughts, as she decides what to measure and what to risk. Jenna makes pies to see what can come of her own ideas, even though her life right now is stifling and completely out of her control (“What’s Inside”).

The scene quickly transitions into a busy day at Joe’s Pie Diner, where Jenna works and makes their popular homemade pies. She’s joined by her fellow waitresses, Becky and Dawn, and their boss, Cal, who cooks the food. The three