A Fun, Hilarious, Well Done Production
The way both San Diego Musical Theatre and Moonlight are producing these pieces is short of amazing.
Moonlight brought the pies to their 44th season opener, featuring Waitress, the Broadway musical with music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles and a book by Jessie Nelson, based on the 2007 film of the same name. Jenna (Lulu Lloyd) is a waitress at a diner and bakes pies from scratch every morning. She is married to Earl (Nicholas Mongiardo-Cooper), who is macho, abusive, and a deadbeat. Jenna’s coworkers, Becky (Elizabeth Adable) and Dawn (Emma Nossal), support Jenna and share their day-to-day stories during their shift at the diner, which Cal (Dallas McLaughlin), the manager, does not appreciate. Jenna receives some news that prompts her to visit the doctor. Instead of her regular doctor, she has Dr. Pomatter (Bryan Banville) as her doctor. Things start changing drastically, and Joe (Ralph Johnson), the diner owner and regular, tells Jenna to enter a pie contest that will help her navigate and get out of it all.
Noelle Marion directs a hefty cast that delivers a fresh and entertaining performance. Katie Banville’s choreography combined ballroom style and jazz steps that emphasized the songs and transitions throughout the musical, along with Tamara Paige’s musical direction, as both the instruments and the voices came through clearly, thanks to Ryan Marsh’s sound Design that amplified Sara Bareilles’ beautiful music.
Blake McCarty’s video design made for fantastic backdrops that made the scenes pop.
Elizabeth Adabale, Lulu Lloyd, and Emma Nossal truly captured the distinct personalities of the waitresses. Lloyd as the troubled yet creative Jenna, Adabale as the sassy one with incredible comebacks with Becky, and Nossal delivered a fun, hilarious, and naughty version of Dawn. They made for the perfect trifecta. Dallas McLaughlin gave each of the ladies game as Cal. Ralph Johnson had amazing scenes with Lulu Lloyd. Nicholas Mongiardo-Cooper as the unlikable Earl gave the character spunk. The stage chemistry as well as the stage couple Lulu Lloyd and Bryan Banville made for significant musical numbers and overall fantastic scenes. Bryan Banville is a natural, creating magic with every script. Jonathan Sangster as Dawn’s boyfriend, Ogie, practically stole the end of the first act with hysterical comedy. One aspect that was greatly appreciated in this musical is that all the performers appear to enjoy the craft while genuinely having fun. Jasmine January was Nurse Norma in the performance that I saw, and although the character was a tad caricaturesque, January was great.
Experiencing a good musical under the stars is worth the long drive. Samantha Terrell’s lighting paced each of the scenes with a deserved shine.
Melissa Bonilla was the stage manager for this production who also had beloved San Diego performers such as Xavier J. Bush and Anthony Vacio amongst others. I am including the program here for all the names.
I recommend buckling up for what is coming in Moonlight’s season, as the caliber is there as well as the feeling and the performative flair.
