Jessie Mueller is starring in Waitress the Musical, which features music written by Sara Bareilles. However, just four years ago, Mueller and Bareilles were competing over the same glass slipper. Both women were up for the role of Cinderella in 2012 Shakespeare in the Park production of Into the Woods, with Mueller winning out in the end.
Recently, Sara Bareilles spoke to Playbill about the time she lost out to Mueller, saying:
“I felt like that was a good omen. I was never supposed to do that!. I didn’t realize how horrifically underprepared I was. It was a fun, little experiment-slash-mortifying moment in my life, but then it was so delicious to know that at the end of the day, it went to Jessie Mueller. It just felt like this cosmic hug.”
Bareilles went on to discuss her future on the stage:
“There is a part of me that’s curious about what it would feel like to be a stage actor in this capacity--not necessarily within this show, but just to even open up the question, ‘Is that something I want to do? I think I always dreamed of it as a little girl, but watching someone act beautifully and make it believable… I try all the time at home alone! It just might not be in the toolbox I got when I got here, ya know? There’s no way I could have been involved in this show from a performance capacity in any way and had been able to do what I’ve had to do and to maintain perspective. Other people have done that beautifully in this medium, but for me, it would have been impossibly hard. And…I’m realizing that I get such joy and such pride by watching someone interpret my music and not being the singer.”
Waitress goes into previews this weekend, March 25, 2016 and officially opens on April 24, 2016 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on 256 W. 47th St.
