There are some musicals you enjoy, some you admire, and then there are the rare productions that quietly take up permanent residence in your heart. Waitress is firmly in that final category for me.

Heading into Manchester last night for the UK tour, I wondered whether the magic would still land a second time around. After all, expectations can be dangerous when a show has already earned a place among your all-time favourites. But from the moment the lights dimmed, I remembered exactly why this production has stayed with me for so long.

Waitress UK Tour, Review, The Palace Theatre, Manchester

Waitress is warm, funny, heartbreaking and beautifully human. It’s the kind of musical that wraps humour around pain so skilfully that one moment you are laughing loudly with the rest of the audience, and the next you are sitting in complete stillness, emotionally winded by the honesty unfolding on stage.

At the centre of the story is Jenna, played with extraordinary vulnerability and charm by Carrie Hope Fletcher. Stuck in a deeply unhappy marriage to the controlling Earl, Jenna pours everything she cannot say aloud into baking pies at Joe’s Diner. The diner becomes more than a workplace; it’s a refuge filled with people who are equally flawed, complicated and desperately trying to navigate life in their own way.

What makes Waitress so compelling is that it refuses to paint its characters in broad strokes. Nobody feels one-dimensional. Becky carries strength and exhaustion in equal measure, Dawn’s awkwardness is deeply endearing rather than caricatured, and Cal slowly reveals a softness beneath his gruff exterior. Even Joe, cynical and sharp-tongued, somehow becomes impossible not to adore.

Where Waitress Starts

The story itself begins with Jenna discovering she is pregnant, news that fills her not with joy but fear. Determined to create a different future for herself, she sees a pie-baking contest as a possible escape route. But life, naturally, becomes more complicated when she meets the awkwardly charming Dr Pomatter during a routine appointment, and an unexpected connection begins to grow between them.

Yet the brilliance of Waitress is not really about plot twists or dramatic reveals. It’s about emotional truth. About loneliness, friendship, hope, disappointment and the tiny moments of courage people find when they feel trapped.

And Then There’s The Music

Sara Bareilles’ score moves effortlessly between playful and devastating. The humour feels natural and sharp, never forced, while the emotional moments land with breathtaking sincerity. By the time “She Used to Be Mine” arrived, the theatre felt completely suspended in silence. It’s one of those rare performances where you can sense an audience collectively holding its breath.

What struck me most throughout the evening was how connected everyone in the theatre seemed to the story. The laughter rolled across the room in waves, spontaneous and joyful, but the quieter moments carried just as much power. You could feel the audience leaning in, emotionally invested in every single character on that stage.

And when the curtain fell, the standing ovation was instant.

That kind of response cannot be manufactured. It happens when a production genuinely reaches people, and Waitress absolutely does. It’s funny without being frivolous, emotional without becoming overly sentimental, and honest.

Where Can You See Waitress

Waitress is at the Palace Theatre, Manchester until the 30th May and then at….

• New Theatre Oxford, Mon 29 Jun – Sat 4 Jul 2026
• Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, Mon 6 Jul – Sat 11 Jul 2026
• Bristol Hippodrome, Tue 4 Aug – Sat 8 Aug 2026
• Liverpool Empire, Mon 7 Sep – Sat 12 Sep 2026
• Milton Keynes Theatre, Tue 22 Sep – Sat 26 Sep 2026
• King’s Theatre, Glasgow, Tue 6 Oct – Sat 10 Oct 2026

Please note, I was gifted the tickets, but a review was optional. Also, see where to eat and park near the Palace Theatre. See more theatre reviews here.