MCC Theater’s Miscast 2018 gala granted several stage favorites the opportunity to try their hand at a variety of roles in which they’d never traditionally be cast. Among the performers was Tony and Grammy nominee Sara Bareilles, who offered her own take on Coalhouse Walker Jr.’s signature anthem “Make Them Hear You” from Ragtime. Check out the exclusive video above.
Before singing, Bareilles credited MCC Co-Artistic Director Bernard Telsey for suggesting the song to her for the annual event. “It immediately came to life, and I’m so moved by the social and political climate right now,” she said. “What I see is this rebirth and reawakening of this beautiful sense of activism, and it’s so alive.”
She added, “This song…speaks to every moment in history. And it was written by a man and a woman [Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens], and I loved the unity of that.”
The Waitress composer, who recently concluded a return engagement in the musical, was accompanied by a series of images from various rallies and marches—from the Women’s Suffrage Movement to the recent Women’s Marches.
Bareilles is set to star as Mary Magdalene in NBC's live concert offering of Jesus Christ Superstar, airing from Brooklyn this Easter Sunday (April 1).
This year's Miscast gala payed special tribute to Tony winner and Oscar nominee Laurie Metcalf, who currently stars on Broadway in Three Tall Women (opening March 29). Additional performers to take the stage at the Hammerstein Ballroom included Tony nominee Jeremy Jordan (who sang the Waitress ballad “She Used to Be Mine”), The Band’s Visit star Katrina Lenk (accompanying herself on the fiddle for “If I Were a Rich Man”), and SpongeBob SquarePants trio Ethan Slater, Gavin Lee, and Wesley Taylor (singing Company’s “You Could Drive a Person Crazy”).
