The smell of a freshly baked cake is about to fill Lime Street once again. After its successful 2022 run in our city, the outstanding musical WAITRESS returns to the Liverpool Empire from 7 September to 12 September, for eight unmissable performances.
Following its previous UK stops, the show returns with glowing feedback across the board: Radio Times described it as “a beautiful musical, topped with a massive dollop of charm”, and The Theatre Flyer called it “a perfectly baked production rich in heart and impossible to resist”.
Beyond the freshly baked pies, what makes this musical unique is the ability to tackle complex themes like toxic relationships and self-discovery with warmth and resilience.
The 2022 run of WAITRESS was a success in Liverpool: the production delivered a flawless and emotional performance, captivating audiences with a blend of exceptional music, acting and staging. Hence, its upcoming return is sure to delight fans and provide an unforgettable night, once again. During the Liverpool run, the talented actress Carrie Hope Fletcher will star as lead character Jenna Hunterson one more reason not to miss the show!
Seven interesting fun facts about the stage production
1. In 2015 it became the first-ever Broadway musical with an all-female creative team. Diane Paulus, Sara Bareilles, Lorin Latarro and Jessie Nelson are some of the women who made the magic happen.
2. Immersive theatre at its finest: the crew actually bakes a pie in the lobby before every show to fill the air with that delicious smell.
3. The show is based on the cult 2007 film WAITRESS of the same name.
4. Fans of the musical named themselves the “pie family” or “Waitress-ians”.
5. To keep the pies picture-perfect on stage, a professional pie maker was hired. She even trained the cast to roll dough like professionals.
6. Sara Bareilles admitted she didn’t expect “She Used to Be Mine” to be a hit; she wrote the song almost as a side note.
7. The Broadway musical WAITRESS set a new record for the largest box office earnings during previews at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. It enjoyed a completely sold-out run at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts, before transferring to Broadway, where it grossed an unprecedented $145,532 in its first weekend.
The plot
The musical follows the adventures of Jenna, a waitress and pie-maker who lives in a small town. She uses baking as an escape from an unhappy marriage to an abusive husband and a life with limited options. With support from her fellow waitresses, Becky and Dawn, she enters a baking contest that offers a chance of freedom, while navigating a new romance and her own journey of self-discovery. The show blends humour, heartache and hope, with pie as both a literal and emotional centrepiece.
WAITRESS proves that love and friendship can truly change someone’s life for the better.
Tickets for WAITRESS are now available at https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/waitress/liverpool-empire/calendar/2026-09-07
WAITRESS – Performance Schedule
Liverpool Empire 1 Lime St, Liverpool L1 1JE, UK
· Monday 7 September at 19:30
· Tuesday 8 September at 19:30
· Wednesday 9 September at 14:30 and 19:30
· Thursday 10 September at 19:30
· Friday 11 September at 19:30
· Saturday 12 September at 14:30 and 19:30
