Sara Bareilles’ new musical THE INTERESTINGS to have world premiere at Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Photo credit: Shervin Lainez
Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Matt Ross have announced the world premiere of new musical The Interestings, which will form part of Berkeley Rep’s 2026/27 season from 31 January 2027, produced in association with Ross.
Directed by two-time Tony Award winner Michael Arden, The Interestings features music and lyrics by two-time Grammy® Award winner, three-time Tony® Award and three-time Primetime Emmy® Award nominee, and multi-platinum recording artist Sara Bareilles. New York Times bestselling author Meg Wolitzer joins the team as co-bookwriter, adapting her own novel for the stage, along with Pulitzer Prize finalist and Tony Award nominee Sarah Ruhl, with music supervision by Grammy Award nominee Nadia DiGiallonardo.
Sara Bareilles said: "When I read Meg Wolitzer's unbelievably funny and poignant novel, The Interestings, I wrote the first song before I'd finished the book. I felt like I knew these characters already, and they continue to inspire and challenge me to evolve as a writer and a storyteller. My love affair with them continues, and it has been the thrill of a lifetime to be entrusted with helping them sing. Meg's novel is the blueprint for what this creative team is conjuring, and it has been a complex, deep process of arrival and discovery and surrender and delight. It is especially wonderful to get the opportunity to bring a new work to one of the great theaters on the west coast, Berkeley Repertory Theatre. As a Northern California girl, it feels like coming home with something I am so proud of, and that I am so excited to share."
The Interestings follows six friends who bond over their shared dream of leading creative lives. From their first meeting as teenagers at a summer camp in the 1970s to decades later in New York City, that bond remains, but so much else has changed. Tracing their lives as they grow together and apart, The Interestings explores friendship, love, envy, class, art, money, and power—and how all of it can shift and tilt precipitously over the course of a life.
Additional details, including cast and creative team, will be announced at a later date.