'My life took nothing but left turns': Sara Bareilles on her path to the musical Waitress

Broadway isn't always kind to pop stars trying to transition into musicals, but when Sara Bareilles was hired to write music and lyrics for the show Waitress, the theatre community rolled out the welcome mat.

You might remember Bareilles best as the singer of Love Song, which earned her a Grammy nomination in 2009, but, as she discovered, writing music for Broadway takes an entirely different kind of skill.

The Tony-nominated musical Waitress is about a waitress named Jenna, who's looking for a way out of her abusive marriage. She enters a pie-baking contest, hoping the grand prize will help her leave her husband.

To celebrate the Toronto opening of Waitress, Bareilles joined host Tom Power in the q studio to talk about how Broadway has changed her, both personally and professionally. Waitress opens in Toronto next week on Tuesday, July 9.

— Produced by ​Vanessa Greco