Sara Bareilles Returning to Broadway in ‘Waitress’

The musical Waitress may have closed on Broadway in January 2020 after a long natural life but it’s coming back after the pandemic — with Sara Bareilles leading the way. The singer-songwriter of “Brave” and “Love Song” will star in a resurrection of the musical, playing the lead role of Jenna Hunterson. She’ll be in the show when it restarts at its new home in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre from Sept. 2 through Oct. 17.

“Broadway is grit and grace, magic and mayhem, and I can’t wait to feel the electricity that pulses through all of us as the curtains rise once again,” Bareilles said in a statement Wednesday (July 7). The musical tells the story of a waitress and pie maker trapped in a small-town diner and a loveless marriage. It’s adapted from a 2007 film starring Keri Russell.