Apple Orders Sara Bareilles Musical Series ‘Little Voice’ From J.J. Abrams And Bad Robot
Apple continues to cultivate an impressive list of actors and filmmakers for their upcoming streaming service.J.J. AbramsandSara Bareillesare the latest names to sign on – the pair will collaborate on a half-hour musical comedy seriesLittle Voice.
Deadlinereports that J.J. Abrams and theWaitressduo of Sara Bareilles andJessie Nelsonare joining forces for a show that will debut on Apple’s streaming service. The show is calledLittle Voice, and it’s described as “a love letter to the diverse musicality of New York, Little Voice, which shares the title of Bareilles' breakthrough album, explores the universal journey of finding your authentic voice in your early 20s. It is described as a fresh, intensely romantic tale of the search to find your true voice… and then the courage to use it.”
Bareilles wrote the music for the Broadway hitWaitress, and was recently seen inJesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert!Nelson wrote the book forWaitress, and will write and direct the first episode ofLittle Voiceand serve as showrunner. Abrams and his Bad Robot productions will produce the show. Per Deadline, Apple landedLittle Voiceafter attempting to secure another Abrams/Bad Robot series, a sci-fi drama calledDemimonde. Apple was unable to lock that show down, however, and it ended up atHBO.
Little Voicesounds like it has potential. The set-up for this series sounds like something different than the standard streaming fare, so it’s got that going for it. On top of that,Waitressis a wonderful musical, and Bareilles is one heck of a performer. Giving her a chance to lead her own series is a wise move. Here she is belting-out “I Don’t Know How To Love Him” fromJesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert!
Little Voicejoins an ever-growing line-up of original content for Apple’s streaming platform. Recently, they announced acomedy seriesabout poet Emily Dickinson, starringHailee Steinfeld. In the past, they’ve given the go-ahead to a reboot ofSteven Spielberg’sAmazing Stories, as well as a thriller fromM. Night Shyamalan; a space drama fromBattlestar GalacticacreatorRonald D. Moore;, a series fromLa La LanddirectorDamienChazelle;See, a sci-fi series fromI Am LegenddirectorFrancis Lawrence;Are You Sleeping, starringOctavia Spenceras a podcaster who reopens a cold murder case; acomedystarringKristen Wiig;and anothercomedyseries co-starringJennifer AnistonandReese Witherspoon.
That’s a lot of shows, but that’s not important to Apple. When it comes to their streaming lineup, Eddie Cue, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services,said: “We’re not after quantity, we’re after quality.”
