Deaf Broadway's 2025 offering will be an American Sign Language-infused performance of Waitress, the 2015 Sara Bareilles-Jessie Nelson musical based on the 2007 film. The performance will be given July 23 in Damrosch Park.
As in previous Deaf Broadway performances, Waitress will feature a full, live Deaf cast performing the show in ASL to a prerecorded audio performance of the musical. Sandra Mae Frank, seen on Broadway in Deaf West Theatre's Spring Awakening revival, will direct. Casting is to be announced.
Deaf Broadway's Waitress follows earlier performances of Once On This Island, Rent, Company, Into the Woods, Les Mis茅rables, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Legally Blonde The Musical, and Sweeney Todd.
Adapted from the 2007 film and featuring a book by Nelson and a Tony-nominated score by Bareilles, Waitress was developed and premiered by Massachusetts' American Repertory Theater before debuting on Broadway in 2015, picking up four 2016 Tony nominations, including Best Musical. The work made a Broadway return at the Ethel Barrymore following the COVID-19 shutdown beginning September 2, 2021, sticking around through December 20. Bareilles (Into the Woods, Girls5Eva) first played Jenna as a replacement to original star Jessie Mueller; she ended up headlining two more limited engagements throughout the original run and did a stint in London鈥檚 West End prior to the coronavirus shutdown.
Waitress is part of Lincoln Center's newly announced 2025 Summer for the City series. That slate also includes 12 productions from American Modern Opera Company, The Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center premiering a commission by James Lee III, the expanded return of the Living Music Underground series, six 20th anniversary concerts for string quartet Brooklyn Rider, female-led music festival Ruidosa Fest, and more. See the full schedule at .
