Jessie Nelson
Book

Jessie Nelson wrote the musical Waitress with music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles. The show played on Broadway for 4 years and moved to the West End in London. Sara and Jessie went on to create the show Little Voice which they Executive Produced with JJ Abrams for Apple TV. Jessie wrote, directed and produced Corrina Corrina and I Am Sam staring Sean Penn, who received an Academy Award nomination for his performance. Among her other directing credits are Curb Your Enthusiasm and Love, the Coopers with Diane Keaton. Her writing credits include Step Mom and The Story of Us. She produced Fred Claus and Danny Collins. In London, Jessie directed Alice By Heart which she co-wrote with Steven Sater with music by Duncan Sheik at the National Theater Connections Program and again at MCC in NYC. She began her career as an actress at the Public Theater working with the award-winning experimental theater Mabou Mines and at the New York Shakespeare Festival. She wrote the children’s book Labracadabra. She has been the artistic Director of the Sundance Screen Writers Lab.

Sara Bareilles
Music and Lyrics

Sara Bareilles can next be seen starring in the upcoming Tina Fey’s series, GIRLS5EVA. Bareilles first achieved mainstream critical praise in 2007 with her widely successful hit “Love Song,” which reached No. 1 in 22 countries around the world from her debut album Little Voice. Since then, Sara has gone on to receive seven Grammy® nominations throughout her career, which include Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “Love Song” and one Album of the Year for her highly acclaimed third studio album, The Blessed Unrest. Her book, Sounds Like Me: My Life (So Far) in Song, was released in the fall of 2015 by Simon & Schuster and is a New York Times best seller. Making her Broadway debut Sara composed the music and lyrics for Waitress, for which she received her first Tony® Award nomination for Best Score and a 2017 Grammy® Award nomination for Best Musical Theater Album. She also made her Broadway acting debut in 2017 by stepping into the lead role in Waitress. 2018 was a big year for Sara, she co-hosted the Tony Awards®, was nominated for an Emmy® and Grammy ® for her role in Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert and was awarded with the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s Hal David Starlight Award. Sara also teamed up with Apple as an executive producer for Little Voice a 10-episode series, for which she created the original music. What’s Inside: Songs from Waitress, her most recent solo studio album, is out on Epic Records. On April 5, 2019 Sara released her fifth full-length and first album of original material since 2013, entitled Amidst the Chaos. For this latest body of work, she joined forces in the studio with legendary Academy® Award-winning producer T Bone Burnett. As a result, the album spotlights her voice as a singer and storyteller like never before, while making an enduring statement.

Adrienne Shelly

Star of 20 films (incl. Hal Hartley’s The Unbelievable Truth and Trust). She wrote and directed three, incl. Waitress, a box office hit after its critically acclaimed Sundance premiere following her death in 2006. Writer: Serious Moonlight (Meg Ryan). Adrienneshellyfoundation.org est. 2007 to support women filmmakers.

Sony Music Publishing

Sony Music Publishing, established in 1995 as a joint venture between Sony and Michael Jackson, is the world’s leading music publisher. Sony owns or administers more than two million copyrights, including those from such iconic music catalogs as EMI Music Publishing, Leiber & Stoller, Mijac Music, Motown and Famous Music. Sony controls many of the best-known songs ever written, including “New York, New York,” “All You Need Is Love,” “You’ve Got a Friend,” “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “Over the Rainbow” and “Stand By Me.” In addition, Sony represents the copyrights of such legendary artists as The Beatles, Leonard Cohen, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Queen, The Rolling Stones, Sting, The Supremes, Hank Williams and Stevie Wonder, among others. Its ever-growing list of chart-topping artists and songwriters includes Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, P!nk, Shakira, and Taylor Swift.

Music Theatre International

The perfect musical for every audience!

At MTI, it’s about enabling as many theatres to perform as many shows as possible – to have the shared experience that is musical theatre.
– Drew Cohen, President and CEO

Music Theatre International (MTI) is one of the world’s leading theatrical licensing agencies, granting theatres from around the world the rights to perform the greatest selection of musicals from Broadway and beyond. Founded in 1952 by composer Frank Loesser and orchestrator Don Walker, MTI is a driving force in advancing musical theatre as a vibrant and engaging art form.

MTI works directly with the composers, lyricists and book writers of these musicals to provide official scripts, musical materials and dynamic theatrical resources to over 100,000 professional, community and school theatres in the US and in over 150 countries worldwide.

MTI is particularly dedicated to educational theatre, and has created special collections to meet the needs of various types of performers and audiences. MTI’s Broadway Junior™ shows are 30- and 60-minute musicals for performance by elementary and middle school-aged performers, while MTI’s School Editions are musicals annotated for performance by high school students.

MTI maintains its global headquarters in New York City with additional offices in London (MTI Europe) and Melbourne (MTI Australasia).