Sara Bareilles: 5 Things To Know About The Singer & Broadway Actress
Here’s everything you need to know about Sara Bareilles, the magical voice behind Mary Magdalene in ‘Jesus Christ Superstar Live’.
1.) Sara Bareilles, 38, is a singer, songwriter, actress and author. She is best known for her 2007 hit single, “Love Song”, and for composing the music for the Broadway musical, Waitress. Sara was born and raised in California, and she was two sisters and a half-sister. After performing in her high school choir and a number of community musical theatre projects, Sara went on to attend the University of California in Los Angeles, California. She also taught herself how to play the piano and a number of other musical instruments!
2.) Sara performed a cappella in college. Long before making it big as a pop artist, Sara was part of the co-ed a cappella group, Awaken a Cappella. She is a featured vocalist on their album, Dysfunktional Family, performing her original song “Gravity” and The Jackson 5‘s “I Want You Back”. The group’s version of “Gravity” is also featured on the 2004 album, Best of College a Cappella. She continued to perform with the group until she graduated college in 2002.
3.) She released an album before getting a record deal. Careful Confessions was Sara’s debut studio album, which she released in 2004 just one month before signing an official record deal with Epic Records. That same year she spent touring with a number of well-known artists including Guster, Jon McLaughlin, Aqualung and Mika. Since then she has released three more studio albums: Little Voice, Kaleidoscope Heart, and The Blessed Unrest.
4.) Sara composed all of the music for Broadway’s ‘Waitress’. It was first reported she was writing the music in 2013, and then the show opened to rave reviews in 2015. The musical is an adaptation of the 20017 film of the same name, and in 2016 the Broadway musical was nominated for Best Original Score at the Tony Awards. Since then she has taken on the lead role of Jenna in the musical twice during it’s Broadway run.
5.) Sara is a proud feminist. “I don’t think that being a feminist has anything to do with hating anything. It’s about celebrating women and being productive for females. I’m not one for seeing amazing, intelligent women being reduced to sex symbols,” she told the Huffington Post in 2011.