AMERICAN THEATRE: The musical Waitress charmed Broadway audiences in its 2016-21 premiere run. Now regional theatres are dipping their spoons for a taste. The story of Jenna, a young woman stuck in a bad marriage and a dead-end job at a small-town diner who finds solace in baking, started as an independent film starring Keri Russell and eventually made its way to the stage with catchy tunes by Grammy winner Sara Bareilles. As the 2024-25 season unfolds, 10 theatres are producing the endearing musical, which comes with the creative challenge and opportunity of depicting more than two dozen prop pies onstage, plus some edible ones.
8 comments:
Since so many theaters are putting on Waitress, which has such heavy demands for fake food props, I’d be curious to know whether there are certain solutions and ideas being passed around for how to make those particular pies, or if each props department is coming up with their own prop pie recipe, so to speak. I’m sure there are some standard practices that are shared across the board, but also probably some unique innovations. I like the quote about how creating the real food makes the props designer feel more connected to the actors. I think it’s nice to consider the fact that the actors will actually be eating it, and how that experience will work – for instance, the cupcakes with mashed potatoes instead of frosting because the actors didn’t want sweets. That was probably a bit of a shock to taste though; I wouldn’t recommend it as a typical culinary substitution.
Props are so cool! I love the world of prop design, prop construction, and prop logistics. One of the most fun things I’ve done in theatre was figuring out how to make a giant chocolate cake out of expanding foam. Reading about all the different ways that prop designers make things that look like pies was fascinating to me. The most surprising ‘ingredient’ to me was shredded cork for savory pies. It also makes me wonder how the designers and productions deal with and control the potential for spread of bacteria with the real food and the dishes that would need to be used for it. I’ve heard that there are rules surrounding that and I would be interested to learn more about those as well. Additionally, when there is real food in use, I wonder how touring shows handle that since they likely wouldn’t have an easily accessible kitchen. I wonder if they would instead purchase pies, in this case, from local bakeries, stores, etc.
I will never not be amazed by the things a prop department can make and how incredibly realistic they will look. I recall a production of Into the Woods I was in where most of Little Red's pastries were fake, but looked so realistic someone really tried to take a bit of a cookie. One thing I find interesting in this article is how they've found sometimes the consumable option is the best option for a show. I'd be curious if that was still the case for a much longer running show or if the show was touring. I wonder with so many large theatres putting on Waitress in the near future if there has been any communication amongst the props depts about techniques for making so many pies, with some that need to be partially edible. This also feels an opportunity to have a rental package once a production is over, keep the non-consumable pies and other show specific props and offer them to other possibly smaller theatres who don't have the resources to make their own.
Yay props! I saw Waitress in London a few years ago and they sold tiny pies in the lobby during intermission, so every time I think about Waitress I think about that. I love reading about the ways that different productions are making the pies; I think it’s so cool that there are so many different methods and materials that can be used to make the “same” prop. I worked on a show that needed a plate of devilled eggs that was covered in paprika (the line was “the top of the paprika shaker fell off” so the eggs were COVERED in a pile of paprika) and it was fun to hear from our props team about all the tactics and materials they were using to create the very lifelike eggs and the rest of the funky props we needed for the show. I love props and I love that there isn’t one right way to make most props, so it’s always a fun challenge.
I love seeing how different designers use different solutions to tackle the same problem. In Nashville, prop designer Marlee Shelton opted for a mix of insulation, air-dry clay, and foam to create the illusion of pie onstage. At the same time, White River Junction designer Ellen Houlden used joint compound and plastic. When we think about how design choices differ in different productions of the same piece, we’re normally thinking about how the designers express their own vision—they have different processes that help them arrive at different conclusions. However, for a prop like this that is meant to resemble the real thing as closely as possible, we get a rare opportunity to see how many different methods can be used to reach the exact same conclusion. No pun intended, but it’s really important to give these designers their props. I loved the part of the article that went into how they use real food onstage and experiment with different options to best suit the actor’s individual needs.
After reading this article and hearing of the unique methods Props Supervisors were using to make stage food for Waitress, I became curious about the relation of these methods to the policies theaters should implement to best support these methods and also potentially drive sustainability in business. What I mean by this is that it seems that there may be an advantage for theaters to look more into how to recycle or reuse some of the byproducts of theater to best support these methods, or that theaters should look into more storage space to hold these byproducts for later use (obviously its own struggle based on location and finances available for this). Since props as a department tends to be driven by unique needs, it may be worth evaluating if there are consistent byproducts (sawdust, broken tools and parts) that can be reused by props to achieve their effects on stage, as the demands are particular and can be achieved in a variety of ways.
I think that props is one of the most interesting disciplines involved in theater. It’s really interesting to see so many unique solutions to the same challenges – not just in pies, but in countless other commonly used props. Just the amount of materials mentioned in this article puts it into perspective: whipped cream, instant mashed potatoes, sawdust, foam, clay, insulation, and more. Undoubtedly, the props department get some of the most difficult requests, and around the country and the world there are props people that can come up with the most ingenious, creative solutions. In this sense, the prop person is arguably one of the most multidisciplinary people on a production; they need to be a painter, sculptor, baker, carpenter, and so, so much more. I wouldn’t even know where to begin if I were tasked with making a prop pie, let alone think of solutions remotely close to the ones in this article.
Mama it’s amazing what the props team can dooooooooo. I love Waitress. I would have done anything to see the Broadway run, but the pro-shot has still fed my soul. Making food props is one of the coolest things, and makes the job of a stage manager MUCH easier- less consumables! I have always wondered how the props on Waitress has worked specifically, as I noticed that there are pre-made shells of pies, assumably fake, piped in with real (looking,) whipped cream or custard or Oreo, etc. “...Insulation, air-dried clay, and foam to capture the texture of the stage pies. Shelton said she’s also been playing with shredded cork for savory pie filling and sawdust for coconut shavings.” This is so interesting! It makes me wonder what some of my favorite onstage-treats have actually been made of. I feel like the weight of some of these materials is also important to consider because it could look/feel heavier or lighter than it actually is.
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