no Earl, no Elf, no Doctor Pomatter

I had wondered how "Waitress: The Musical" would be used for this first God On Broadway sermon, as it deals with a lot of issues concerning marriage,  mothers and daughters, coping with stress, and pregnancy.

I even used a Comcast reward a week ago to make sure all the songs were fresh in mind!

After all, the filmed musical came out in 2023 and there have been a lot of other musicals since that one.

I had hoped to be at Asbury Memorial in person, but my hip is just not that ready for that kind of action early in the day, so I watched on Facebook.

 

That worked in my favor, as I could take screenshots!

Michelle Meese has the lead role of 'Jenna' and here she is in the first scene.

She was so perfect in the Sara Bareilles role!!!

The show at AsbMemCh began as did the musical, with "What's Inside".

 

That led directly into "Opening Up", with Tom Lewis as 'Cal', the diner cook and manager; Carmen as 'Becky'; and her daughter, Alex, as 'Dawn'.

So far, so good, and right in keeping with the story.

And isn't that scrim for "Joe's Pie Diner" just fabulous???

Nice to have members of the choir filling the tables as diners, too!

 

Then we have the scene with 'Joe', played by Bob Townsend, who was ideal in that role of the crotchety old man who owns the place. 

He's got worlds of experience and he catches on that 'Jenna' is pregnant.

She hasn't shared that information around, but he's had a close call or two in his younger years with lovers who got knocked up, so he knows "the look".

There follows a break for the announcements, birthday greetings, and the other regular church stuff for an Asbury Sunday.

 

When the GOB musical returns, it's just 'Jenna' on the stage, obviously pregnant.

She goes into the "Dear Baby" soliloquy, explaining how the crib was obtained and why she will not be in the pie contest.

Then she sings "She Used To Be Mine", about the younger self she once was.

Very beautifully done!

And that was the last scene from "Waitress: The Musical".

Period.

Reverend Billy Hester launched into his sermon, talking of his marriage to Cheri and their frequent counseling sessions they undergo; a story in the Bible from Luke 13:10-17 about a woman who had lived in pain for twenty years and came to Jesus for healing on the Sabbath, causing both of them to catch flak from others; and changes we go through as we age.

 

He segued from that to telling us of hearing "She Used To Be Mine" sung as a duet between a man and woman and how that changed the song.

That's when Michelle and her husband, Matthew, came to the stage and performed the song for us.

It was nice, no doubt about it, but...

that wasn't in the original story.

In fact, a lot that had been very much part of the original musical was completely absent from the version we had today.

Nothing about 'Earl', the husband 'Jenna' married young, who was abusive like her father had been...

nothing about the extramarital affairs between 'Cal' and 'Becky', or 'Jenna' and her OBGYN doc, 'Dr. Pomatter'...

nothing about the love story that springs up between 'Dawn' - the "Turtle" - and 'Ogie' - the "Elf" - who met online...

and certainly none of the imaginative pies that are created continuously by 'Jenna' in response to life's curves.

I'm glad I know the whole story...

but I'm kinda sorta glad I stayed home for this one.

The down side is I missed all the home-baked pies in Holliday Hall after.