Jennifer Nettles is making her debut as a leading lady in the hit musical, Waitress â and sheâs prepping for the role by showing off her skills as a âpie expert!â
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 âtheatre-loverâs go-to source for all things Broadway and beyond,â notes that Nettles made her initial Broadway debut in 2015 as Roxie Hart in Chicago. Waitress shared that aside from proving that sheâs âcrazy talented on stage,â 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: âTonight's the night - see you soon, #Broadwayâ 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 Nettlesâ duo partner Kristian Bush, to name a few.
Bareilles, who wrote music and lyrics for the musical, said in a âPass the Pieâ interview that casting Nettles as Jenna was âyears in the making. Weâve been trying to get Jennifer into the show for at least four years, probably,â she said. âThe stars finally aligned (and) the timing was rightâŠâ Nettles recalled that it all âstarted with a text,â and now, Bareilles says itâs âthrilling to be able to pass it to a dear friend.â