By MK Scott
Sara Bareilles’s pop-rock musical Waitress is filled with scrumptious pie—so much pie—and is one of the most famous musicals of the past decade. It’s a story of friendship, chosen family, and embracing love from unexpected places. Jenna dreams of leaving behind a life she didn’t imagine for herself, and the announcement of a baking contest could be her ticket out. Supported by her best friends, Jenna chooses to open her heart to the messier parts of life, which certainly don’t come with a recipe.
Jenna is played by Kerstin Anderson, and here are highlights from our recent interview.
On Playing the Iconic Role of ‘Jenna’:
Jenna is, as you said, sort of an unbelievable role for an actor in musical theater to step into. I feel super privileged and honored. We’ve been having a lot of fun and working really hard. We’ve been working our tails off, so I’m really looking forward to getting it out there.
How to Make the Role Her Own:
Yeah, I think something that a director I’ve worked with in the past, Jack O’Brien, taught me was to strip away what you know and just focus on the text because that’s where the story lies. So I think that’s what we’ve been doing as well. I’ve been less concerned about how to make it different and more focused on how to share my most honest and truthful self through these words, these songs, and with the people around me. Yeah, I think that’s how I approach it.
Favorite Song, So Far:
It changes all the time. Let’s see… I really love singing Soft Place to Land with Tori and Portia. It’s such a beautiful moment in the story, and they sound so beautiful. Doing it with them is like a little hug for my heart. I just love it so much.
She Bakes, For Real:
Yeah, I actually do. I got into baking… well, maybe my whole life, I guess. My dad loved to bake pies and taught me how to make pie crust. He was good with Crisco back in the day. So he sort of taught me the basics, and then I branched out. But I love baking. I find it so meditative. If I had planned better, I would have brought spices and things to cook with while I was here, but I didn’t plan ahead. So I just have my hotel room kitchen with salt and pepper. But yeah, I love it. I like making, let’s see, I made a lemon velvet cake for one of my friend’s birthday parties. I’ve made homemade Pop-Tarts, pumpkin bread, zucchini bread—basically all kinds of bread. I love baking.
Her Dream Role:
I guess I get to cross this one off now, huh? Yeah, this was probably on my list. I’ve said for a long time—and it still holds true—that either The Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods or Dot in Sunday in the Park with George would be my dream roles.
Can Dreams Come True?
Oh, absolutely. 100%.
Final Word:
I’m so honored to be among everyone in this company. Everyone is giving so much heart and soul to this piece. I’ve loved working with Lisa Shriver, Matt Perry, Katie, and Hattie. The team is just unbelievable. It’s been a true gift to get to work on this piece. I grew up watching the movie with Keri Russell, and I used to force all my friends in high school to watch it. And now it’s a musical, which is my chosen profession, and now I’m getting to do the musical. It’s such a crazy full-circle moment, and I’m just trying to soak in every moment and love it.
Waitress opens at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre from March 11 to 30. For Tickets and information, check out 5thavenue.org.
