Waitress composer-lyricist Sara Bareilles will replace Jessie Mueller in the role of master pie baker Jenna in the Broadway musical March 31 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre after the Tony-nominated star plays her final performance March 26.
Singer-songwriter Bareilles previously sang much of the score on her concept album for the show, What's Inside: Songs from Waitress, released six months before its Broadway opening. The role will mark her Broadway acting debut. She will play a limited engagement in the role through June 11. No replacement after that date has been announced.
READ: ONCE UPON A TIME, SARA BAREILLES LOST A ROLE TO HER LEADING LADY JESSIE MUELLER
Mueller, who won a Tony Award for her performance in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, was nominated for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical for her work in Waitress.
Mueller currently appears opposite Drama Desk nominee Eric Anderson (Cal), Charity Angél Dawson (Becky), Tony Award nominee Christopher Fitzgerald (Ogie), Drew Gehling (Dr. Pomatter), Caitlin Houlahan (Dawn), Dakin Matthews (Joe), William Popp (Earl), Cate Elefante, Thay Floyd, Henry Gottfried, Molly Hager, Aisha Jackson, Molly Jobe, Max Kumangai, Anastacia McClesky, Ella Dane Morgan, Jeremy Morse, Olivia Phillip, Stephanie Torns, and Ryan Vasquez.
Tickets are available online at Ticketmaster.com or by calling (877) 250-2929.
Watch Bareilles sing “She Used To Be Mine” from the score:
Based on the 2007 film of the same title, Waitress tells the story of Jenna (Mueller), an expert pie maker in a small town, who dreams of a way out of her loveless marriage. A baking contest in a nearby county and the town’s new doctor (Gehling) may offer her a chance at a new life, while her fellow waitresses (Dawson and Houlahan) offer their own recipes to happiness. But Jenna must find the courage and strength within herself to rebuild her life.
(Story updated February 16, 2017)
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