“We’re so thrilled,” Bareilles tells Collider’sJoe Schmidt.
“This was always our highest hope, that we would end up here.
This is the streaming service I watch more than anything else.
Custom image by Nimesh Perera; production still by Max
I just really love it and yeah, it just feels like the right home for the show.
So we’re just so grateful.”
Bareilles collaborated withWaitresswriterJessie NelsonandJ.J.
Image via Peacock
Abramson theApple TV+ seriesLittle Voice.
What was the journey like to bring this version ofWaitressto streaming?
SARA BAREILLES: Whoo.
Long.Waitressis like The Little Engine That Could.
The journey of this show has unfolded in so many kind of surprising and unique ways.
I will never understand how I got so lucky as to have said yes to this.
Image via Hulu
So I was really lamenting that we hadn’t kind of made that happen.
And then we got the opportunity to return to Broadway after COVID to help reopen Broadway.
And then it went sideways into the movie theaters.
A gifted waitress with a knack for creating extraordinary pies grapples with an unplanned pregnancy and a difficult marriage. Seeking a way out, she pins her hopes on a pie contest that could offer her the financial freedom to change her life. Throughout her journey, she navigates the complexities of friendship, love, and personal growth, building meaningful connections with her fellow waitresses and a charming new doctor.
We weren’t expecting that to be the journey of the show.
Not thatWaitressis live right this second in New York.
But I love the idea of bringing theater to people in their homes.
It actually only helps augment and amplify.
So what about your character resonates with you most?
I was trying to find my way into all these different perspectives.
So like the crotchety old diner owner and the abusive husband and [the main character] Jenna.
And the first song that I wrote for the show was “She Used to be Mine.”
So I really I drank the Kool Aid very early on in this show.
Broadway Return or ‘Girls5Eva’ Movie?
Why Not Both
“I’m a hope addict.
I’m hopeful that something will happen and, truly, I believe anything’s possible.”
You had a very well-praised run inInto the Woods.
Is there a chance that we could see you return to Broadway anytime soon?
BAREILLES: I don’t know about timeline,but yes, definitely.
I really feel like working in the theater is the medium that makes me the happiest.
It fills my cup.
I love the collaboration.
I love the consistency.
I love the live element.
It’s a real sweet spot for me.
So as long as they’ll have me, I will be knocking on the door of theater.
One of the best sitcoms of the 2020s may never get a proper ending.
Busy Philipps said thatGirls5Evais done and I think that’s a travesty.
I was a huge fan of that show.
Anything is possible, I really believe that.Stranger things have happened.
We got three incredible seasons of this show that are all hosted together.
They’re all watchable, bingeable.
And then who knows?
I’ve been saying I want to do aGirls5Evamovie.
I want to do, like, aSex in the City Let’s.
Well no, maybe not Dubai, but you know.
Let’s go on tour.
Let’s have the girls go on tour.
I would love it.
I’m a hope addict.
I’m hopeful that something will happen and, truly, I believe anything’s possible.
BAREILLES: [Laughs] You write it, and we’re gonna go do a GoFundMe.
What is happening here?"
You also had a really awesome song inOnly Murders in the Buildingthat the great Meryl Streep sang.
That’s got to be surreal.
BAREILLES:It was really fun.It was a “pinch me” moment.
And I was like, “Did I go to the Good Place?
What is happening here?”
So we had we spent two afternoons together and this song really felt like it wrote itself.
It was really fun and easy.
She’s a beautiful singer, but singing is not the thing she does the most.
I’m such a huge fan of that show.
So it just felt like a “pinch me” moment.
I have to ask because it just came out andAmerican Primeval, have you watched it yet?
It is intense, and it’s intense to know that it’s based on true events.
It’s a really hard and uncomfortable look at history, which I think is really important.
And I think that they did an incredible job.
He got to go to cowboy camp and ride horses all day.
I was just like, “You’re literally living your little boy fantasy.
This is incredible.”
But I’m so proud of him.
