Sara Bareilles: Jennifer Nettles' 'Waitress' Role Was 'Years In The Making'

Jennifer Nettles is making her debut as a leading lady in the hit musical, Waitress — and she’s prepping for the role by showing off her skills as a “pie expert!”

Nettles, half of country duo Sugarland, will off her run as Jenna on Tuesday evening (October 19), following fellow Grammy-winning artist Sara Bareilles. Playbill, hailed as the “theatre-lover’s go-to source for all things Broadway and beyond,” notes that Nettles made her initial Broadway debut in 2015 as Roxie Hart in Chicago. Waitress shared that aside from proving that she’s “crazy talented on stage,” Nettles proved her expertise by firing off more than a dozen pies in only 30 seconds.

Nettles took to her social media channels with a full-costume promotional photo, announcing that: “Tonight's the night - see you soon, #Broadway” Nettles has since garnered support and well wishes from fans and fellow artists and actors, including Orfeh, Karen Fairchild of country quartet Little Big Town, Brittney Spencer, and Nettles’ duo partner Kristian Bush, to name a few.

Bareilles, who wrote music and lyrics for the musical, said in a “Pass the Pie” interview that casting Nettles as Jenna was “years in the making. We’ve been trying to get Jennifer into the show for at least four years, probably,” she said. “The stars finally aligned (and) the timing was right…” Nettles recalled that it all “started with a text,” and now, Bareilles says it’s “thrilling to be able to pass it to a dear friend.”