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Sara Bareilles Pens Catchy Tune Urging Theatergoers To Turn Off Cell Phones At 'Waitress' Musical

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- This is music to Patti LuPone's ears.

Sara Bareilles' songwriting skills are all over the new Broadway musical Waitress -- even down to the cellphone warning.

The five-time Grammy nominated singer-songwriter of "Brave'' and "Love Song'' has recorded the 40-second please-turn-off-all-electronic-devices warning that most Broadway theaters now provide.

Over staccato piano notes and shrill ringing, Bareilles sings: "Do it now, while I sing, because no one's going to like you if your phone rings. Hurry up so that we can start the show. Thank you so much. Now turn off your cellphone.''

Fans can find it on SoundCloud.

Bareilles told The Associated Press that she was inspired to write the ditty after being frustrated by the current bane of Broadway: Cellphones chirping during shows despite demands they be turned off. One went off during previews at a particularly tender moment in "Waitress.''

"The team and I spoke after the show, and I suggested a cellphone announcement that I would write and sing myself. I decided to rewrite the words to a song of mine called 'Cassiopeia,' and try to make something funny, in the style of the show, but that would still get the point across,'' Bareilles said.

"I wrote it in an evening and recorded it at home. It seems to have done the trick, although the errant cellphone still makes me crazy.''

The new musical tells the story of a waitress and pie maker trapped in a small-town diner and a loveless marriage. It's adapted from a 2007 film starring Keri Russell and stars Jessie Mueller, who won the best leading actress Tony Award for playing Carole King in the musical Beautiful.

Bareilles has already released her versions of the musical's songs in "What's Inside: Songs From Waitress,'' including the standout single "She Used to Be Mine.''

(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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