Author(s): David Hunter & Lucie Jones
Rating: ★★★★★
Everyday during their time together in the West End production of ‘Waitress the Musical’, David (as Dr Pomatter) would hand Lucie (as Jenna) a prescription for prenatal vitamins, featuring a silly little doodle.
Lucie kept every single of one of them and they lined her dressing room wall at The Adelphi Theatre until the show closed. They’ve lived in a little box ever since.
But now the best of the doodles will appear in a brand new book, alongside Lucie and David’s favourite backstage stories and secrets.
This book is the literal definition of stage to page, so it seemed only fitting that I posted my thoughts on the new release from stars of the West End, Lucie Jones and David Hunter. For those who don't know, they both appeared in the West End (and UK tour) adaptations of Waitress the Musical. Through their time on the show, David wrote Lucie handwritten doodles on his character's prescription pad. Lucie kept them all. And thus, 3 years after the show closed in the West End, this book was born.
The doodles are absolutely gorgeous and give you an insight into how working on the show truly was. From the ups, to the downs, and everything in between. You'll also be introduced to a selection of new pies, such as the "sorry-you've-had-a-tough-day pie" and the "newbie pie".
As well as a collection of their favourite doodles from their time on the show, it's full of hilarious facts, such as "nearly 3% of ice in the Antarctic glaciers is penguin urine" (thanks, Piers!). There's also a selection of memorable guest checks from audience members, diary entries from the pair's time in the show and general milestones, such as West End Live, their friendship and Waitress karaoke, to name a few.
While it's a short book, at just under 100 pages, they manage to squeeze so much love, joy and emotion into every page. I read it in one sitting in just under an hour, but I'll be regularly dipping back into the book and re-reading favourite moments, because it's the kind of book you can enjoy again and again.
One thing I really enjoyed is the annotations throughout the book from when the other was writing. From sarcastic comments, to sweet, to laugh out loud - their friendship and care for one another shines through on every page.
Whether you're a Waitress fan, a fan of David and Lucie, or simply just a lover of theatre, you'll appreciate how wonderful this book is, and enjoy the brief look into the wonderful world of a West End show. With that, I'd like to introduce a new pie..."they wrote a book pie", and in the words of Sara Bareilles, "this book is delicious!".
It's funny, emotional, sweet, joyful and sometimes vile (page 92 anyone?!)- and it's all of this mixed up and written in a beautiful book (excuse the pun, I had to get one in, surely!?). Unputdownable, re-readable and full of nostalgia for a show I miss so dearly in the West End.
No comments