Jessie Mueller, last seen on Broadway as a King, is coming back as a waitress.
Theatre producers Barry and Fran Weissler said on Friday that the Tony Award-winning Mueller will star in the musical adaptation of the 2007 film Waitress with songs by pop star Sara Bareilles.
Mueller won the best leading actress in a musical Tony last year for playing Carole King in the musical Beautiful. Her new show plays the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, with previews beginning on March 25. It previously played at the American Repertory Theatre at Harvard.
It will be directed by Diane Paulus, who has also helmed the recent revival of Pippin and the new Finding Neverland. Bareilles, who wrote the music and lyrics, is behind such hits as King of Anything and Love Song.
Waitress, which starred Keri Russell in the film, tells the story of a waitress and pie maker trapped in a small-town diner and a loveless marriage. The musical has a story by Jessie Nelson, who wrote, directed and produced Corrina, Corrina with Whoopi Goldberg and I Am Sam with Sean Penn.
Mueller’s other Broadway credits include On a Clear Day You Can See Forever with Harry Connick Jr, The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Nice Work If You Can Get It.
