Sara Bareilles admits she’s been struggling. She began her career as a solo artist, writing songs based on her own experiences. But then, Waitress came into the picture and Bareilles began to write musicals and, well, she hasn’t been able to stop—she wrote songs for the comedy series Girls5eva (which she also stars in) and is now writing another musical: The Interestings. As she remarks to Playbill one afternoon: “I've been trying to write a record, but that shit’s going so slow, let me tell you.”
Waitress was the first time that Bareilles had written songs from the point of view of different characters, and it unlocked a new creative energy inside of her. “I realized that it's all about this exercise in radical empathy, that you're actually trying to find the places where you connect,” she explains. “They might have behaviors that wouldn't live on you in the exact same way—but down at the root, there's, like, five emotions that we actually have, and everything comes out of those. What motivates us? Is it jealousy? Is it anger? Is it feeling too vulnerable? Is it feeling too seen? Is it feeling the ache?” (Waitress, starring Bareilles, was supposed to be broadcast on PBS in November but the broadcast has been postponed, due to ongoing contract negotiations. Bareilles couldn't offer more details, though she assures Playbill readers that “all is well,” and there will be news soon about a new broadcast date.)
As a composer, Bareilles has been able to successfully use that radical empathy technique for her songs in the Netflix series Girls5eva, where she plays Dawn, a member of a ’90s-era girl group who are trying to rekindle their fame—the group also includes Tony winner Renée Elise Goldsberry, Busy Philipps, and Paula Pell. She is currently nominated for an Emmy Award for writing the song “The Medium Time” from Girls5eva. The Emmys will be held September 15. This is Bareilles’ fourth Emmy nomination, including a nomination for co-hosting the Tony Awards.
In Girls5eva, which contains numerous original songs primarily written by show-runner Meredith Scardino and Jeff Richmond (Mean Girls), Bareilles usually pens a pivotal song every season that acts as the narrative climax. Season three sees the girl group going on tour, and questioning whether becoming famous is worth the compromises it takes to get there. “The Medium Time” is a reminder that it’s okay to not make it to the big time.
“‘The Medium Time’ is about taking stock of being somewhere in the middle and how that's worth celebrating, too,” says Bareilles. “We don't always have to be fixated on the next mountaintop, we can take advantage of the scope of achievement at any given point along the line—there's always something to look around and be grateful for.”
Bareilles admits she isn’t sure about the future for Girls5eva (after it was canceled on Peacock after two seasons, Netflix picked it up for season 3 but hasn’t announced a renewal). Bareilles is up for anything when it comes to the show, whether it’s a film or even a live performance of songs. “I am so ready to go,” she exclaims.
In the meantime, Bareilles is keeping busy. Besides trying to write a new album, she is also working on a new musical with Sarah Ruhl, called The Interestings, which is based on the Meg Wolitzer book of the same name, concerning a group of friends who meet at an arts summer camp. The show follows the group from teenage-hood to middle-aged. Yes, Bareilles admits it’s thematically similar to Girls5Eva and Waitress—all stories are about adults looking back at their younger and more idealistic selves, and longing for that innocence again.
“It's this idea that came out in [the Waitress anthem] ‘She Used to Be Mine,' where you're really trying to reconcile the person you became with the person you thought you would become,” she says. “And I just think, for everyone, there's a chasm between those two people…But I find that to be fascinating. I've always been someone who really loved the idea of the child in you that never really goes away.”
Bareilles just played a concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, where she played a song from the show, called “Enough.” The lyrics detail a character who, despite her success, is never satisfied or happy. “Enough, what it even is I’ll never know, it’s impossible to give you ‘cause it’s so elusive, it’s so intrusive, and for you it’s everything. Enough, would you recognize it once it had arrived, or would something else shift as you step inside.” Bareilles wrote the song after she read Wolitzer’s book. It is similar thematically to “The Medium Time,” though with less irony. Bareilles admits that despite her success, she deeply relates to characters like Jenna in Waitress, Dawn in Girls5eva, and the characters in The Interestings—people who are longing for something different in their lives.
“I'm a highly anxious person. I've worked really hard to manage those things, but I mean, a long-standing history with anxiety and depression,” says Bareilles. And so she relates to her characters in how they’re highly self-critical, and part of their journey is self-actualization and acceptance. “I think that those pieces of the pieces of ourselves that we want to judge or we want to be critical of, there's always room to just love ourselves up a little bit more. I think that's usually the way out of a tight spot.”
The Interestings has had a few private readings, and Bareilles still has to finish writing the score. But when she’s done, is she planning on starring in this new musical? “This is a huge question. I have no idea,” she says, adding that she asked Lin-Manuel Miranda about tips on starring in a musical and writing it at the same time. He told her that it happened out of necessity for Hamilton since he knew that fast-paced material best. But, for now, Bareilles is still unsure. “I, thankfully, don't have to make that decision at this point. We're playing with the Legos right now—we’re putting it together.”
