Sara Bareilles on 'Waitress' and Beauty Standards in Hollywood
glamour.comWaitress is full of layers—some sweeter than others.Few know that better than , who wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musical (and later, took over the lead role of Jenna Hunterson from Jessie Mueller).
Although the show played its final performance in December 2021, it's held a pie-shaped space in fans' hearts, which will finally be filled when Waitress: The Musical hits theaters nationwide on December 7.The film is a taping of the live Broadway show, and, according to Bareilles, it “feels like a legitimate miracle” that the movie was made at all.“I can't even tell you the karma of this show,” Bareilles tells Glamour over Zoom. “I feel like Adrienne Shelly is working the puppet strings from beyond.” (Shelly, who wrote, directed, and costarred in the original film, was killed in 2006 before its release).Waitress was one of the first to reopen after the pandemic, following an unprecedented shutdown that lasted nearly 18 months. “Within that reopening we were like, we've assembled this incredible cast, let's make sure we get a live capture,” Bareilles recalls. “I grew up in a really small town, and going to a theater show on Broadway in New York City was just not a possibility," she says, adding that the film feels like a “beautiful proxy” for those who couldn't experience the show IRL.Beyond that, Bareilles is excited to share this story.
Like one particular pie described in the show, the ingredients are familiar—romance, friendship, family, nostalgia—but they're mixed together in a way you wouldn't necessarily expect.“It's really incredible to see the tableau at the end of the show is not a romantic one," she says, before correcting herself.
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