New musical 'Waitress' is heading to Broadway this spring
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Molly Driscoll Staff writer
Music from singer Sara Bareilles is coming to Broadway.聽
The new musical 鈥淲aitress,鈥� which is an adaptation of the 2007 Keri Russell movie of the same name and features music by Bareilles, is set to officially open at the American Repertory Theater (ART) in Cambridge, Mass. later this month and will on Broadway in April.聽
The movie and show center on Jenna (Tony winner Jessie Mueller), a pregnant waitress who is unhappy in her marriage and who enters a baking contest.聽
ART artistic director Diane Paulus directed 鈥淲aitress鈥� in Cambridge, where the show officially opens on Aug. 20.聽
Bareilles has been nominated for several Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and Song of the Year.聽
The ART has become a successful launching pad over the last several years for Broadway shows. Recent awards-season favorites like a circus-based revival of 鈥淧ippin鈥� and 鈥淎ll the Way,鈥� which starred 鈥淏reaking Bad鈥� actor Bryan Cranston as Lyndon B. Johnson, played there before heading to the Great White Way. 鈥淔inding Neverland,鈥� the musical based on 鈥淧eter Pan鈥� writer J.M. Barrie鈥檚 life, also played in Cambridge before heading to Broadway, where it鈥檚 still being staged.聽
Other successful shows at the theater have recently included 鈥淭he Gershwins鈥� Porgy and Bess,鈥� which played at the ART with many of the cast members who went to Broadway, including Audra McDonald, Norm Lewis, and David Alan Grier; and 鈥淭he Glass Menagerie,鈥� which played at the ART with the actors who would later star in the Broadway production, including Cherry Jones, Zachary Quinto, and Celia Keenan-Bolger.
Even productions that have not gone on to Broadway have often attracted A-list talent, like 鈥淭he Last Two People On Earth,鈥� which starred Mandy Patinkin of 鈥淗omeland鈥� and played at the ART this May.
