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Jessie Mueller to star in 'Waitress' musical on Broadway

By Karen Butler
Jessie Mueller in a scene from Broadway's "Waitress." Photo courtesy of Boneau/Bryan-Brown
Jessie Mueller in a scene from Broadway's "Waitress." Photo courtesy of Boneau/Bryan-Brown

NEW YORK, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- The new stage musical Waitress, starring Tony Award-winning actress Jessie Mueller, is to open April 24 at Broadway's Brooks Atkinson Theatre, producers announced.

Previews are to begin March 25. Additional casting is to be announced shortly.

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The musical is based on the 2007 motion picture written and directed by the late Adrienne Shelly. It features a book by Jessie Nelson, music and lyrics by singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles, and direction by Tony Award-winner Diane Paulus.

The show recently played a sold-out, limited engagement at the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass.

Mueller is the winner of the 2014 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.

"Jenna is a waitress and expert pie-maker stuck in a small town and a loveless marriage," a synopsis for Waitress said. "Faced with an unexpected pregnancy, Jenna fears she may have to abandon the dream of opening her own pie shop forever... until a baking contest in a nearby county and the town's handsome new doctor offer her a tempting recipe for happiness. Supported by her quirky crew of fellow waitresses and loyal customers, Jenna summons the secret ingredient she's been missing all along – courage."

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The film version of Waitress starred Shelly, Keri Russell, Cheryl Hines, Nathan Fillion, Jeremy Sisto and Andy Griffith. Shelly was murdered during a burglary in her Manhattan office in 2006, shortly before the movie opened to critical acclaim. She was 40.

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