Fingers in many pies: Sara Bareilles on her musical Waitress and her many careers

Seven Grammy nominations, one leading role in NBC's Jesus Christ Superstar, a new Apple TV series and one Tony Award-nominated musical might catapult one's private life into the public eye. But that's not the case with Sara Bareilles, by her own design. 

"I'm pretty forthcoming," Bareilles says of her private life. "It's not that interesting." 

But her professional journey sure has been.

As she promotes the Canadian premiere of Waitress, the Broadway smash hit she wrote the music and lyrics for, the 39-year-old Bareilles is a study of a musician who took what she's good at—penning intimate and powerful personal stories—and spun it into a career that far exceeds those of many of her singer/songwriter peers.

Finding her fuel

Bareilles' first hit single Love Song was released in 2007, the same year as her debut album Little Voice. Since then, she's released five full-length albums and earned a slew of Grammy nominations.

But the grind of the recording industry was getting to her. 

"I just got so cyclical in my artistry. It was just, make an album, go record it, go on tour, come home, take a brief rest...my Sagittarian nature was just sort of allergic to the idea of doing the same thing for the rest of my life. So I was frankly just bored and uninspired."

The antidote? Bareilles began composing songs and lyrics for the musical Waitress after being approached by Tony award-winning Director Diane Paulus. Based on the 2007 movie written and directed by the late Adrienne Shelley. 

It's a story of a woman trapped in a life with an abusive husband and a dead-end job, who finds hope for a better life in a pie-baking contest where she can showcase her talents.

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"It's like comfort food in the sense that it's emotional and it's funny and it's about relationships and relatable things. But it's not two dimensional. These are good people making bad decisions and having to live with that."

Bareilles admits that the process of working on the musical was a learning experience—for example, she was used to writing deeply private songs with no interference from others, but musicals are a collaborative experience where the composer works closely with the book-writer and director to weave together a story. 

Despite venturing into new territory, Bareilles persisted with her work on the project.

"It was so nourishing as an artist to do something that I loved so passionately and then kind of didn't care about the outcome. I was just in it." 

Fans and critics were also sold. When it opened on Broadway in 2016, Waitress broke the house record for a single performance at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, pulling in more than $145 000 USD. The musical continued to be one of the most sought-after tickets, even up against such box office behemoths as Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen. 

Critics singled out Bareilles' songs as one of the musical's notable achievements, with the Chicago Tribune writing, "Waitress proved able to communicate with a depth that most musicals never achieve. This had everything to do with the score." 

It also revealed another hidden talent of Bareilles': she can act.

She has appeared in the lead role of Jenna in limited runs, much to the audience's delight. And it looks like other musical producers took note: she was offered the role of Mary Magdalene in NBC's televised version of Jesus Christ Superstar. By last year, Bareilles was such an established presence on Broadway that she and fellow singer Josh Groban were asked to co-host the Tony Awards.

She and her Waitress collaborators also made history: with leadership roles filled by director Paulus, Bareilles, choreographer Lorin Latarro and playwright Jessie Nelson, it became the first Broadway musical with top leadership spots all filled by women.

"I love that it wasn't a casting agenda," says Bareilles, a self-described feminist. " We weren't paired together because we were women, we were paired together because we were people that were working at the top of our fields and we were good partners."

Apple series

With her role on Broadway secure and a new album, Amidst the Chaos, just released in April,  it looks like Bareilles has her eyes set on the world of TV series and streaming platforms. 

As Little Voice, a new series she's executive producing for Apple TV is about to premiere, she again finds herself in a partnership with someone who's at the top of their game: J.J. Abrams. "Oh, just that guy!" Bareilles laughs.

The subject matter of the series sounds just a little autobiographical (something Bareilles confirmed in the Apple promotional spot)

"Little Voice is about a young songwriter, who's sort of at the precipice of the first moments of real magnitude in her career," says Bareilles. "It's a really kind of messy moment for her in particular and she's lovable and she's funny and she's imperfect."

The words echo the lyrics of one of the main songs Bareilles wrote for Waitress, a key song for the lead character, Jenna: "She's imperfect, but she tries, she is good, but she lies."

It's clear that Bareilles is still deeply invested in the show. When she reprised the role of Jenna on Broadway in January 2019, box office for the show topped one million dollars.

She says she's excited for Canadian audiences to see it.

"It's a living breathing organism that is very much a part a part of my everyday life. It's a family member that takes care and maintenance and I believe in it, I love it so much," says Bareilles.

Waitress opens at the Ed Mirvish Theatre in Toronto on July 9.