PRESS RELEASE – Wednesday 18 December 2019 IMAGES CAN BE DOWNLOADED FROM www.thecornershoppr.com/downloads/waitress/ waitressthemusical.co.uk | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram EVELYN HOSKINS ANNOUNCED TO JOIN THE CAST OF WAITRESS AND MARISHA WALLACE TO RETURN IN JANUARY 2020 • MUSICAL THEATRE STAR EVELYN HOSKINS WILL TAKE OVER THE ROLE OF DAWN FROM 27 JANUARY AND ORIGINAL LONDON CAST MEMBER MARISHA WALLACE WILL RETURN TO PLAY BECKY ON 6 JANUARY • MONIQUE ASHE-PALMER IS ALSO ANNOUNCED TO JOIN THE ENSEMBLE IN THE NEW YEAR • THE NEW CAST WILL PERFORM ALONGSIDE SARA BAREILLES AND GAVIN CREEL WHO WILL BE JOINING THE COMPANY FROM 27 JANUARY. NEW IMAGES ARE AVAILABLE HERE • WAITRESS RECEIVES SEVEN NOMINATIONS IN THE 2019 WHATSONSTAGE AWARDS AND IS SHORTLISTED FOR BEST NEW MUSICAL, BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL, BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL, BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL AND BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL Waitress the musical will welcome Evelyn Hoskins (Assassins, Spring Awakening) to the role of Dawn in the New Year while original London cast member Marisha Wallace (Dreamgirls, Aladdin) is also announced to return to the West End production. Evelyn Hoskins will join the smash hit musical comedy on 25 January following Hannah Tointon’s final performance, and Marisha Wallace will resume the role of Becky on 6 January following Sandra Marvin’s final performance. Monique Ashe-Palmer will also join in the ensemble from 9 January, taking on the role from Cindy Belliot. Waitress features an original score by 8-time Grammy® nominee Sara Bareilles (Love Song, Brave), who has recently been announced to join the West End cast as Jenna opposite Gavin Creel (The Book of Mormon, Hello Dolly!) as Dr Pomatter for a strictly limited six- week season from 27 January to 7 March 2020. New images have also been released today and are available here. Waitress tells the story of Jenna, a waitress and expert pie-maker who dreams her way out of a loveless marriage. When a hot new doctor arrives in town, life gets complicated. With the support of her workmates Becky and Dawn, Jenna overcomes the challenges she faces and finds that laughter, love and friendship can provide the perfect recipe for happiness. Waitress celebrated its official opening night at the Adelphi Theatre on 7 March 2019 and the Tony-nominated musical is now running in the West End through to 4 July 2020 before embarking on a major nationwide UK tour with further dates and details to be announced in due course. Evelyn Hoskins (Dawn) most recently starred on stage in Assassins (Nottingham Playhouse/Watermill) and previously in the West End in Spring Awakening. Her other theatre credits include Cruel Intentions (Bill Kenwright), Mayfly (Orange Tree Theatre), Mrs Henderson Presents (Royal Alexandra Theatre, Toronto), Peter and the Starcatcher (Royal and Derngate), the title role of Carrie (Southwark Playhouse), Hero's Welcome (UK Tour, Off- Broadway), This Is My Family (Sheffield Crucible, UK Tour), The Boy Who Fell Into A Book (Stephen Joseph Theatre), Peter Pan (US Tour) and The Secret Garden (Birmingham Rep). For television she has starred in ITV’s A Confession and The Sound of Music Live, BBC series’ Casualty, Holby City and Doctors and E4’s Misfits. She has also performed in concert in The Hired Man (Cadogan Hall), Christmas with the Stars (Royal Albert Hall), Peter Pan (Adelphi) and Cool Rider (Lyric, West End). Marisha Wallace (Becky) made her West End debut playing Effie White in Dreamgirls (Savoy Theatre) after playing the role at the Tony-winning regional theatre Dallas Theater Center. Since landing in London she has performed in numerous concerts at The Royal Albert Hall, the London Palladium, and she’s a part of Broadway and West End Divas. She previously performed the role of Celie in The Color Purple in Concert at Cadogan Hall and had two sold out nights at Zedel. Marisha’s Broadway credits include the original Broadway productions of Something Rotten and Disney’s Aladdin, and she also appeared in the first US national tour of The Book of Mormon. Other stage credits include Sistas!, Aladdin (Toronto), Oklahoma!, for which she won the Drammy for Best Actress, One Night With Janis Joplin, Rent and Hair. Screen credits include Aladdin (the forthcoming live action film), Disney’s Frozen Fever, The Tony Awards, Good Morning America, The View and Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Monique Ashe-Palmer’s (ensemble) theatre credits include Madagascar the Musical (UK and International Tour) as Kowalski/ensemble, onstage swing, dance captain and in which she also understudied Gloria. Fairy Everywhere in Sleeping Beauty (Camberley Theatre) and various performances at Leeds Grand Theatre and the West Yorkshire Playhouse. Brought to life by a ground breaking, female-led creative team, Waitress features an original score by Sara Bareilles, a book by acclaimed screenwriter Jessie Nelson (I Am Sam) and direction by Tony Award® winner Diane Paulus (Pippin, Finding Neverland) and choreography by Lorin Latarro. The production recently toured across the US and Canada and has announced an Australian premiere in 2020 at the Sydney Lyric Theatre with further productions to open in Holland next year and Japan in 2021. On its Broadway opening at the Brooks Atkinson Theater where it has since become the longest running show in the venue’s history, Waitress was nominated for four Outer Critics’ Circle Awards, including Outstanding New Broadway Musical; two Drama League Award Nominations, including Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical; six Drama Desk Nominations, including Outstanding Musical; and four Tony Award Nominations, including Best Musical. -ENDS- For further information please contact The Corner Shop PR on 020 7831 7657 Su-Ann Chow-Seegoolam [email protected] or Olivia O’Neill [email protected] LISTINGS WAITRESS The Adelphi Theatre The Strand, London WC2R 0NS Monday – Saturday evenings at 7.30pm Wednesday & Saturday matinees at 2.30pm 24 Hour Telephone Booking line: 020 7087 7753 waitressthemusical.co.uk Day seats are available to purchase in person from the theatre box office from 10am for £25. Mon-Fri performances. Subject to availability and at the box office’s discretion. Images from: https://www.thecornershoppr.com/downloads/waitress/ Twitter: @WaitressLondon Facebook: Waitress the Musical – London Instagram: @WaitressLondon BIOGRAPHIES Sara Bareilles (Music and Lyrics) Sara first achieved mainstream critical praise in 2007 with her widely successful hit Love Song, which reached No. 1 in 22 countries around the world from her debut album Little Voice. Since then, Sara has gone on to receive eight Grammy® nominations, two Tony nominations and three Emmy nominations. Her book, Sounds Like Me: My Life (So Far) in Song, was released in the fall of 2015 by Simon & Schuster and is a New York Times bestseller. Making her Broadway debut, Sara composed the music and lyrics for Waitress, and made her Broadway acting debut in 2017 by stepping into the shows lead role. Recently, Sara teamed up with Apple as an executive producer for Little Voice a 10-episode series, which she will create the original music for. On April 5, 2019 Sara released her fifth full-length and first album of original material since 2013, entitled Amidst The Chaos, to rave reviews. For this latest body of work, she joined forces in the studio with legendary Academy® Award-winning producer T Bone Burnett. As a result, the album spotlights her voice as a singer and storyteller like never before, while making an enduring statement. She is currently on her Amidst The Chaos North American tour. Jessie Nelson (Book) Jessie wrote, directed, and produced Corrina, Corrina with Whoopi Goldberg and I Am Sam with Sean Penn, who received an Academy Award nomination for his performance. Recently she directed an episode of Larry David’s latest series of Curb Your Enthusiasm and 2015’s Love the Coopers which starred Diane Keaton and John Goodman. Jessie is currently co-writing the sequel to Disney’s hugely popular musical fantasy Enchanted, humorously named Disenchanted. She co-wrote Step Mom and The Story of Us, and produced Danny Collins with Al Pacino and Annette Bening and Fred Claus with Vince Vaughn. Jessie co-wrote Alice By Heart with Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik, which was developed at The National Theatre. She began her career in the theater working with Mabou Mines and The New York Shakespeare Festival. Jessie co-wrote the children’s book Labracadabra. She has been the Artistic Director of the Sundance Institute’s Writers Lab. Diane Paulus (Director) Diane is The Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director of the A.R.T. at Harvard University, and was selected for the 2014 TIME 100, TIME Magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Diane is the 2013 recipient of the Tony Award for Best Director of a Musical (Pippin). A.R.T.: Crossing, Finding Neverland (currently on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre), Witness Uganda, Pippin, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, Prometheus Bound, Tod Machover’s Death and the Powers: The Robots’ Opera, Best of Both Worlds, Johnny Baseball, The Donkey Show. Her other recent work includes Cirque du Soleil’s Amaluna, currently on tour in Europe; The Public Theater’s Tony Award-winning revival of HAIR on Broadway and London’s West End. As an opera director, her credits include The Magic Flute, the complete Monteverdi cycle, and Don Giovanni, among others. Diane is Professor of the Practice of Theater in Harvard University’s English Department. She was selected as one of Variety’s “Trailblazing Women in Entertainment for 2014” and Boston Magazine’s “50 Thought Leaders of 2014.” Lorin Latarro (Choreographer) Lorin recently choreographed Broadway's Les Liaisons Dangereuses with Janet McTeer and Liev Schreiber, and Waiting for Godot with Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, and she is the Associate Choreographer of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and American Idiot.