This post was originally published on Playbill - News
Written by: Andrew Gans, Logan Culwell-Block
Waitress Stage Film Sets Streaming Premiere Date, the musical was captured during its 2021 return to Broadway with Sara Bareilles leading the cast.
For those who missed the extended cinema release of Broadway’s Waitress, fear not. Bleecker Street will make the film of the hit Broadway musical available for streaming digitally on-demand beginning January 9. The digital version of the film is currently available to pre-order on Amazon and Apple for $14.99.
Captured during the musical’s 2021 Broadway encore run starring composer Sara Bareilles, the film premiered last summer at Tribeca Film Festival before getting a wide theatrical release beginning December 7, 2023. The film’s initial run, which was set to conclude December 11, was extended until December 21 with composer Bareilles crediting the success to the show’s fans (via her Instagram).
Adapted from the 2007 film and featuring a book by Jessie Nelson and a Tony-nominated score by Bareilles, Waitress was developed and premiered by Massachusetts’ American Repertory Theater before debuting on Broadway in 2015, picking up four 2016 Tony nominations, including Best Musical. The work made a Broadway return at the Ethel Barrymore following the COVID-19 shutdown beginning September 2, 2021, sticking around through December 20. Bareilles (Into the Woods, Girls5Eva) first played Jenna as a replacement to original star Jessie Mueller; she ended up headlining two more limited engagements throughout the original run and did a stint in London’s West End prior to the
coronavirus shutdown.
The 2021 return run paid tribute to the late Nick Cordero, who originated the role of Earl on Broadway. The board listing Jenna’s cleverly named confections at the diner where she works newly included “A Big Ol Slice of Live Your Life Pie”—a nod to the Cordero song that became an anthem as he battled a severe COVID-19 case. He died in July 2020, at the age of 41.
Waitress, produced by Barry and Fran Weissler alongside Norton and Elayne Herrick, features sets by Scott Pask, costumes by Suttirat Anne Larlarb, lighting by Ken Billington, and sound by Jonathan Deans. Nadia DiGiallonardo serves as music supervisor. Casting is by Telsey + Company‘s Pat Goodwin.
Diane Paulus directed Waitress for the stage, with Brett Sullivan directing the film capture and Nelson serving as creative advisor. Alecia Parker is executive producer of the screen capture, with Michael Roiff, Barry and Fran Weissler, Bareilles, Nelson, and Paul Morphos serving as producers.
