STAGE TUBE: Sara Bareilles Chats About New Musical WAITRESS and Much More in #SoundsLikeMe Hangout

On Wednesday June 10, 2015, Grammy nominated artist Sara Bareilles took to Google Hangout to chat about her upcoming musical WAITRESS, which is scheduled to begin preview performances at the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T) on August 2, 2015 with opening night scheduled for August 20, 2015.

Waitress tells the story of Jenna, a pregnant waitress living in the south. Jenna is trapped in an abusive marriage and is looking for her happy ending. She eventually finds relief by making creatively-titled pies and forming a romance with Dr. Joe Pomatter, a newcomer to town. Waitress: The Musical is based on the 2007 movie starring Keri Russell (The Americans) and Nathan Fillion (Castle). The musical is written by Jessie Nelson and includes music and lyric by Ms. Bareilles. So far not much casting has been announced except for the titular role of Jenna will be played by 2014 Tony Award winner Jessie Mueller (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical).

Ms. Bareilles used the Google Hangout format to chat with some fans and answer questions via Twitter about Waitress and what it has been like penning her first-ever Broadway musical. One fan asked Bareilles how was writing a musical different than writing songs for her album. She discusses how she loves the collaborative process of writing Waitress. She says "there's a lot of cooks in the kitchen and it's important to not be precious about the ideas coming out."

She also discussed bringing the musical to A.R.T saying that the musical is in really good shape and she can't wait to see how it does with an audience. Bareilles also sang the praises of Jessie Mueller saying she is "just luminous and earthy and transcendent on stage and I am so happy to hear her interpret my music." She also talked about the creation of the other elements of Waitress outside of simply writing the music and how she has been invited to take part in all aspects.

Bareilles also talked about getting involved with the musical early on. She was asked to come on as lyricist by director Diane Paulus (Pippin and Porgy & Bess) and she immediatly watched the movie Waitress and fell in love with it. She disucced how the beginning of the process involved simply sitting around with the screenplay, watching the movie and coming up with songs. Bareilles also sung the praises of Ms. Paulus saying that they hit it off very quickly and she is a "fierce lover of the craft. She is no nonsense and she does beautiful, beautiful things on stage."

Waitress will begin rehearsals on June 22, 2015 according to Ms. Bareilles and she is excited to see how everything falls into place.

To check out the full chat where Sara Bareilles chats about WAITRESS, her new book SOUNDS LIKE ME and her new album below.