Right now on Broadway, audience members can glimpse the behind-the-scenes frenzy at an elite eatery in the comedy “Fully Committed.” And a ticket to the musical “Waitress” opens a window onto the lives of workers at a small-town diner, who find unlikely romance amid the pie-making and hash-slinging.

Entertaining? Hopefully. But for actors in these and other shows, what’s happening onstage may stir up bittersweet memories of earlier lean times when, as fresh-faced new arrivals in New York, their only chance to emote was reciting dinner specials for surly customers at the restaurants where they worked.

While waiting for their big break, many performers put in time as waiters and at other food service jobs. They may not be on Broadway yet, but they often toil in tantalizing proximity, either at restaurants in or near the theater district or as servers at glitzy parties with boldface guests.

The gap between where these young actors are and where they want to be can feel huge.

So it seemed to Keren Dukes, 27, who plays several roles in “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” the night she worked as cater-waiter at a party for the musical “Spider Man: Turn Off the Dark” at the Foxwoods (now the Lyric) Theater.