MANILA -- Award-winning theater actress Joanna Ampil will star in Atlantis Theatrical's production of the hit Broadway musical "Waitress."

In a press conference on Tuesday, Ampil announced that she will be playing the musical's lead character Jenna.

"Waitress," with book by Jessie Nelson and music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles, will be directed by Bobby Garcia, who handpicked Ampil for the role.

"Finally, I'm giving back again to our Filipino audience and it's a very, very especial show. Also it's with one of my favorite directors Bobby Garcia. So, I'm really excited about this," said Ampil, who will be finishing her stint in the musical "Cats" in October and will come back to the country for "Waitress."

"'Waitress' is full of ingredients metaphorically and literally. It's a show about woman empowerment, about mother and daughter relationship. It's about friendship, about bonding and finding your strength back and knowing that it's never too late to achieve what you deserve in life," explained Ampil.

"Basically Jenna is this waitress who's trapped in an abusive and loveless relationship with her husband. She got pregnant unexpectedly and also falls in love with her gynecologist. So the story is quite convoluted, a little bit. It's her journey to find her strength back," she added.

Ampil admitted that she hasn't seen the musical abroad and only heard the soundtrack, which attracted her to do the Atlantis Theatrical's adaptation.

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She also shared that she's a fan of Beirelles and Garcia.

"I watched the movie with Keri Russell and I read the script. I didn't know anything about 'Waitress' prior to Bobby asking me to do the role. After hearing the score of Sarah Bareilles, I am extremely excited because it's very, very rich, very colorful characters. So it's nice to be challenged again by something so enormous," Ampil said.

Asked if she feels pressured doing the first-ever "Waitress" musical in the country, Ampil answered: "There's always pressure but I think it's more of exciting than pressured. Because I know when Bobby puts up a show it's always special and he always nails it. You know that it's going to be of a certain standard. That's why it is amazing to work or even train with Atlantis because of that standard."

"Waitress" will run from November 9 to December 2 at the RCBC Plaza.