Jessie Mueller to star in 'Waitress' musical

Los Angeles: Broadway sensation Jessie Mueller is in talks to star in a stage musical adaptation of Keri Russell's 2007 film 'Waitress'. The 31-year-old singer/actress, who won a Tony Award this year for playing Carole King in 'Beautiful: The Carole King Musical', has emerged as the front runner to revamp Russell's character in a new production, co-written by singer/songwriter Sara Bareilles, according to Hollywood Reporter.

The film, which featured Russell as a pregnant, unhappily married server with big baking dreams, was overshadowed by real-life drama when writer-director Adrienne Shelley was murdered at her home in New York just before the movie's release. Bareilles will make her musical theatre debut as composer on the project.