According to Playbill, Jason’s presence helped the show — about a pregnant, unhappily married pie-baking waitress who has an affair with her doctor — bring in more than a million bucks in his first week. Jason plays the doctor, and the week he joined, the show took in just over a million bucks — over $150 grand more than the previous week.
The last time Waitress took in more than a million bucks per week was before Sara Bareilles, who wrote the music for the show, vacated the starring role, which she last played on June 11.
Casting Jason was Sara’s idea; the two are longtime friends, and he contributed to What’s Inside, her album of the songs she wrote for Waitress. But as she told ABC Radio not long ago, she was surprised that Jason agreed to take on the role of Dr. Pomatter. Sara says Jason responded to her email offering him the part by writing, “The idea scares me and the idea excites me, so that means I should probably pay attention.”
In other Jason news, this Friday, he’ll release his debut album Waiting for My Rocket to Come on vinyl for the first time.
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Jason BellJason Mraz just began his run in the hit Broadway musical Waitress on November 3, but he’s already helping the production grab a bigger slice of the Broadway pie.
