If you weren’t able to get to New York in time to see Sara Bareilles’ star turn in Waitress: The Musical, the next best thing will soon be streaming on Max. The streaming platform will debut a movie version of the Broadway musical on February 14th, with Bareilles in the lead role, performing the songs she wrote herself.
Waitress: The Musical is based on the 2007 movie directed by Adrienne Shelly, starring Keri Russell and Nathan Fillion. (Max will also begin streaming the original film on February 1st.) Bareilles received multiple Tony and Grammy nominations for her work on the music and lyrics for the production, which focuses on Jenna, the titular waitress and pie-maker at a small-town diner. Jenna wants to escape her loveless marriage, and her pie-making skills might give her the chance she needs.
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The production also features Charity Angél Dawson, Caitlin Houlahan, Drew Gehling, Dakin Matthews, Eric Anderson, with Joe Tippett and Christopher Fitzgerald. Brett Sullivan directed the film adaptation, while Diane Paulus directed the stage production, with an adaptation by Jessie Nelson.
In addition to being a Broadway baby, Bareilles recently starred in the acclaimed and hilarious Girls5eva. The sadly canceled Peacock-to-Netflix comedy, spotlighted an early-00s girl group attempting to reclaim their past glory. Its third and final season was one of Consequence‘s best shows of 2024. She’ll also be appearing with Meg Wolitzer and Sarah Ruhl at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre in New York this April for an evening of short fiction.