Hannah Tointon Will Join The West End Cast Of WAITRESS; Lucie Jones Extends

Waitress today announces television star Hannah Tointon, as seen in The Inbetweeners, Mr Selfridge and Hollyoaks, will be joining the West End company from 2 December in the role of Dawn. She will take over from Laura Baldwin who will mark her final performance on 30 November. Waitress is also delighted to announce that Lucie Jones, who has been wowing audiences in the lead role of Jenna since taking over earlier this summer, will extend performances in the smash hit musical through to 25 January 2020.

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.

Hannah Tointon (Dawn) is best known for her role as Tara in the award-winning comedy The Inbetweeners and as Violette in the highly acclaimed British period drama Mr Selfridge. Hannah most recently starred as Zelda in The Jazz Age at the Playground Theatre. Other credits in recent years include, The Festival, Penny Dreadful, Call the Midwife, and Hollyoaks.

Lucie Jones (Jenna) has played some of the most iconic roles in musical theatre, with previous theatre credits that include Cosette in Les Misérables (Queens Theatre), Maureen Johnson in RENT (The Other Palace and national tour), Elle Woods in Legally Blonde (national tour), Holly in The Wedding Singer (national tour), Victoria in American Psycho The Musical (Almeida), Molly Jensen in Ghost: The Musical (Asian tour) and Meat in We Will Rock You (world arena tour). Lucie was a finalist in the 2009 series of The X Factor and toured the UK playing to sell out arena crowds on The X Factor Tour in 2010. In January 2017, she won the public vote on the BBC2 show Eurovision - You Decide with her original song 'Never Give Up On You'. She competed at the Eurovision World Final in Ukraine. Other television work includes roles in Midsomer Murders (ITV) and The Sarah Jane Adventures (BBC).

Waitress celebrated its official opening night at the Adelphi Theatre on 7 March 2019 and the Tony-nominated musical is now booking until 28 March 2020.

Brought to life by a ground breaking, female-led creative team, Waitress features an original score by 7-time Grammy nominee Sara Bareilles (Love Song, Brave), 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 is also currently touring 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.

Alongside Hannah Tointon as Dawn and Lucie Jones as Jenna, Waitress will star Sandra Marvin as Becky, David Hunter as Dr. Pomatter, Tamlyn Henderson as Earl and Andrew Boyer as Old Joe. Joe Sugg will mark his final performance as Ogie on 30 November, with further casting to be announced in due course.

Waitress premiered on Broadway in March 2016 and has since become the longest running show in the history of the Brooks Atkinson Theater. The production is also currently touring 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, 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.