A diner waitress who finds redemption by baking pies. A waif searching for the last Golden Ticket to a famed candy factory. A conservative baker asked to make a wedding cake for her lesbian goddaughter. Those lively themes and more make their way to the stage during Theatre Baton Rouge’s rollicking 79th season, which starts this month.

“It’s got something for everyone, which is our goal,” Theatre Baton Rouge board president Beth Bordelon says. “Our audience is 7 to 70, and we really try hard to make sure there’s something that everyone will like.”

The season kicks off on Aug. 16 with the opening of Waitress, a musical based on the charming 2007 film starring Keri Russell about a naturally talented pie baker and waitress trapped in a loveless marriage. Emily Bourgeois, an arts educator with Center Stage Performing Arts Academy, plays the lead character, Jenna. The role is her first with TBR.

“It speaks to so many women’s journeys throughout their 20s and 30s about finding love and about what ‘normal’ feels like,” Bourgeois says about the show. “And ultimately how you can find your own joy without having to go outside yourself.”

The performance is the regional premiere of Waitress. Theatre Baton Rouge is currently the only theater company to have the rights in the Gulf Coast region, Bordelon says.

Last year, the musical’s licensing company approached TBR with an opportunity to buy the rights. Bordelon says she and her fellow board members jumped at the chance.

“We’ve had a lot of organizations ask us, ‘How did you get that?’” Bordelon says. “Longevity and our reputation really helped.”

Following Waitress, catch TBR’s performance of The Cake, opening Sept. 20 in the intimate Studio Theatre. The comedic tale traces the personal evolution of Della, a North Carolina baker who must decide if love conquers biases—including her own.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is up next, featuring youth talent from TBR’s Young Actor’s Program. It’s directed by frequent TBR contributor and McKinley Middle Academic Magnet School drama instructor Ren Price, who says the musical tracks with the 2017 Broadway version.

“I saw it (then), and when I heard TBR was doing it, I said, ‘I need to be part of that,’” Price says.

It was pure coincidence that the first three shows of the season feature culinary themes—specifically desserts, Bordelon says. But the actors agree it makes for sweet subject matter.

Bourgeois says she’ll be doing a lot of on-stage mock pie baking in Waitress, including mixing ingredients. And cast members will be eating actual food on stage during diner scenes.

“I think the props department is going to have a lot of fun,” she says.

Switching gears, God of Carnage, the story of two sets of parents who come to blows on a playground, hits the Studio Theatre stage in November. It’s followed by a holiday favorite, A Christmas Carol, on the Main Stage. Radium Girls will premiere in January 2025 and is the second show performed by the Young Actors Program.

The season will wrap up with three classics with broad appeal, Bordelon says.

There’s the ’80s favorite on rollerskates, Xanadu, and Tennessee Williams’ feisty hit Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Finally, the season closes with the timeless Fiddler on the Roof. First staged in 1964 on Broadway, the story is centered on a poor family in pre-revolution Russia and features themes of Jewish identity and marrying for love or duty.

The shows have been in the works since last October, when they were chosen by TBR’s Play Selection Committee—after which its members were sworn to secrecy.

Bordelon says TBR is already thinking about what its 80th season slate will look like.

“It’ll be a mix of old and new,” she says. “Including shows that were really important to TBR’s past.”

Behind the scenes of our TBR shoot

Theatrics doesn’t have to be confined to the stage. For this photo shoot, Eloise Market and Cakery generously provided 225 a yummy backdrop, complete with a homemade cake mocking the one in The Cake’s marquis. Posing with the pastry is TBR board president Beth Bordelon. Also pictured are Ren Price, who will direct Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Waitress star Emily Bourgeois, who plays the charming pie baker, Jenna.

This article was originally published in the August 2024 issue of 225 Magazine.