Waitress Makes Jordin Sparks the Next Broadway Jenna
(© Joseph Marzullo / WENN)
The producers of Broadway's Waitress announced today that Jordin Sparks will take over the role of Jenna at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre September 16-October 27. This will mark her first Broadway return since making her debut in 2010 in Lin-Manuel Miranda's In the Heights.
"I've missed the Broadway stage ever since I took my final bow in In the Heights in 2010," says Sparks. "I am so excited to be able to return to it and serve up some musical pie!"
Sparks is a Grammy-nominated, multiplatinum singer-songwriter and actor who garnered worldwide attention at age 17 as winner of Season 6 of American Idol. She made her film debut starring opposite Whitney Houston in the Sony Pictures film, Sparkle, and has since appeared in numerous films, television programs, and specials as an actress, host, and performer.
Waitress tells the story of Jenna, a waitress and expert pie-maker who dreams of a way out of her small town and rocky marriage. Pouring her heart into her pies, she crafts desserts that mirror her topsy-turvy life such as ""The Key (Lime) to Happiness Pie" and "Betrayed By My Eggs Pie." When a baking contest in a nearby county — and a satisfying run-in with someone new — show Jenna a chance at a fresh start, she must find the courage to seize it. Change is on the menu, as long as Jenna can write her own perfectly personal recipe for happiness.
Waitress opened April 24, 2016 at Broadway's Brooks Atkinson Theatre. Based upon the 2007 motion picture written by Adrienne Shelly, the musical features a book by Jessie Nelson, a score by six-time Grammy nominee Sara Bareilles, choreography by Lorin Latarro, and direction by Tony winner Diane Paulus.
The musical currently stars Alison Luff, Charity Angel Dawson, Caitlin Houlahan, Mark Evans, Ben Thompson, Larry Marshall, Benny Elledge, Noah Galvin, Melody A. Betts, Tyrone Davis Jr., Andrew Fitch, Molly Hager, Jessie Hooker-Bailey, Arica Jackson, Molly Jobe, Brandon Kalm, Max Kumangai, Tess Murphy, Everleigh Rotunno, Stephanie Torns, and Dan Tracy.
