Entertainment

Sara Bareilles Rocks The 'Waitress' Cast Album

by S. Atkinson

Hey, remember a singer songwriter by the name of Sara Bareilles? If you didn't find yourself humming her insanely catchy, bestselling hit "Love Song" (79 million views on Youtube and climbing) in the shower for months at a time, then I bow to your superior resistance to pop. That, or your melody-free, living-under-a-rock choice of location. If you're wondering what she's up to these days, great news: she's been writing the best new musical around. Bareilles' musical Waitress is based on the 2007 indie film of the same name, which was adapted from a book by Jessie Nelson. And this exclusive behind-the-scenes video of Bareilles crafting the Waitress cast album will make you even more excited to check it out.

The musical sounds sad but wonderful: a modern rom-com which acknowledges that life can be complicated. According to Broadway: "Waitress follows Jenna, a pregnant waitress in the south trapped in an abusive marriage and looking for a happy ending. She finds relief — and potentially that happy ending — by making creatively titled pies and forming a romance with an unlikely newcomer."

While composing music for a show is an entirely different beast to writing songs for radio, I think Bareilles has aced it. After all, Waitress received four nominations at the Tony Awards. Check out the video below.

The singer sounds hyper focused in the clip and committed to giving the audience the best possible musical experience. "There's so many factors that happen live," she says. "It's not a controlled setting as much as you hope it is." Word. As someone who spent her teenage years running an pre-school drama/musical club (IDK, I was a masochist with a thing for theatrics and getting migraines on the reg), I can tell you that what works great in the rehearsal might work out terribly on the day of and vice versa. But, hey, that is the joy of live theater, and I think, given the huge amount of affection Bareilles' fans have for her, we'll let her off easy for a few badly timed notes.

I can see why a cast album is such an appealing prospect to her: it's theater in a controlled setting, like the best rehearsal ever, delivered straight to her fans' eardrums. Still, if a cast album doesn't sound half as fun as seeing it live (and honestly, despite any badly timed notes, nothing beats live theater), phone a friend and hit the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, where the musical is currently playing. You can book tickets here. See you there, fellow musical-loving feminists.