Sara Bareilles will step into the lead role of Jenna in Waitress, the hit Broadway musical for which she composed the music and wrote the lyrics.

Sara will succeed Jessie Mueller, who has been with the show since it opened last spring. Her last performance will be 26 March 26; Sara’s first performance – her Broadway acting debut – will be 31 March, and she is planning to spend 10 weeks in the role, through to 11 June.

Sara said: “It’s something I’ve been quietly mulling over since the show began. So I’m making the big jump, and it feels like a completion of sorts, a coming full circle with this project. When I started working on it, I didn’t know how fully it would engulf me and my creative sensibilities. I’m obviously having a hard time saying goodbye.

“Musicals are how I got introduced to performance, and then I started singing in choirs and writing my own music. To me this feels like a very holistic return to where I started, even though it’s been a really long time. I wanted to explore my relationship with this show while I’m as close to it as I’ll ever be.”