By Leslie Simon

New Jersey couple Fran and Barry Weissler have produced some of Broadway’s most beloved musicals including Chicago,  La Cage aux Folles, Pippin, Annie Get Your Gun and Finding Neverland. They pick stories that will fill audiences’ hearts, which is how adapting the 2007 film Waitress into a Broadway musical began. The Weisslers bought the rights shortly after the film premiered. 

Writer Jessie Nelson’s 12-year-old daughter was obsessed with the film Waitress, and played it on repeat at their house. When Nelson was approached to write the book for the musical, she knew first-hand how empowering the film was for women to watch, and agreed to be a part of the project. While Nelson had written several popular character-driven movies such as I Am Sam and Corrina, Corrina, this would be her first foray into Broadway. With the blessing of Shelly’s ex-husband, Nelson was able to utilize some of Shelly’s unfinished scripts to write the book for the musical. 

Veteran theatre director Diane Paulus championed both Nelson and Bareilles, and the Weisslers attended a Sara Bareilles concert in Central Park since they only knew her by name. She was an instant hit with the duo, and they asked her if she would like to be a part of creating the musical.

Bareilles was game, and wrote “She Used to Be Mine” which completely captured the spirit the Weisslers were hoping for. 

.

.

Bareilles had become a household name with the tongue-in-cheek pop song “Love Song,” the debut single off her 2007 debut album, Little Voice. Her label Epic Records wasn’t quite happy with what she was showing them and kept asking her to write more, like a marketable love song. Frustrated, she went into the rehearsal space and quickly wrote “Love Song”:

“I’m not going to write you a love song, 

cause you asked for it, cause you need one..” 

The song seemed to write itself. 

Bareilles had an exciting new challenge on her hands with Waitress: The Musical. She found it fun to write for a character, and the experience ultimately widened her scope and changed the way she writes songs. In 2015 she released the concept album “What’s Inside: Songs from Waitress” where she enlisted pop star Jason Mraz to sing on two tracks. Mraz was then hired to play the role of Dr. Pomatter on Broadway, with Bareilles acting next to him in the lead role in some performances. 

This was the first time pop star Sara Bareilles had even worked on Broadway. She not only wrote the music but also starred as the lead character in select performances.

She is also the lead in the filmed version of the Waitress musical that recently streamed in theatres around the country. (Fun fact: she met her current partner Joe Tippett while working together on Waitress!) And she’s had other Broadway appearances post-Waitress, including her Tony-nominated appearance as The Baker’s Wife in a revival of Into the Woods. She is currently writing the music and lyrics for the musical The Interestings, based on the book by Meg Wolitzer.

Waitress was the first Broadway production to boast an all-women production team, and while they didn’t intentionally try to create an all-woman creative team, sometimes things work out the way they are supposed to. A supportive sisterhood was formed between Bareilles, Paulus, Nelson, and choreographer Lorin Latarro, and they strove to keep Adrienne Shelly’s legacy alive.  Waitress: The Musical opened at the American Repertory Theatre in 2015 to critical and audience raves, and it premiered on Broadway in 2016.

You can see our Colorado-made staging of Waitress through October 13! Tickets on sale today.

Buy Tickets Here