Musical 'Waitress' to star Jessie Mueller on Broadway

NEW YORK (AP) — Jessie Mueller, last seen on Broadway as a King, is coming back as a waitress. Theater producers Barry and Fran Weissler said 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 March 25. It previously played at the American Repertory Theater 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.