Published on June 7th, 2018 | by Kirk Hiner

Apple’s next series is a musical dramedy from Sara Bareilles

Singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles and producer J.J. Abrams are teaming up for Little Voice, a half-hour comedy/drama musical that has just been picked up by Apple for a 10-episode, straight-to-series order.

Bareilles is no stranger to musicals, having recently written the music for the Broadway production of Waitress, in which she also starred. The music earned her a Tony nomination for best score and a Grammy nomination for best musical theater album in 2017. She has also released four studio albums, the first of which—Little Voice—gives the new series its name.

According to the report at The Hollywood Reporter, Little Voice is a love letter to the diverse musicality of New York, exploring “… the universal journey of finding your authentic voice in your early 20s…and then the courage to use it.”

Jessie Nelson (I Am Sam, Stepmom) will write and direct the first episode of the series after collaborating with Bareilles on the Tony-nominated Waitress. Nelson will serve as showrunner and executive produce alongside Abrams and his Warner Bros. Television-based Bad Robot, with the company’s head of TV Ben Stephenson (Westworld) also on board. Bareilles will also be credited as an exec producer.

What we’re not sure of yet is if Bareilles will star in the show.

Little Voice will be J.J. Abrams’ first production for Apple, but not his for streaming media services; he’s also producing the Stephen King anthology Castle Rock which is coming soon to Hulu.

Apple has yet to make an announcement regarding the availability of their shows in production, so we’re still not sure when or how we will be able to watch them. So, while we wait, shall we recap the shows Apple has announced?

Dickinson, a comedy based on the life of Emily Dickinson and starring Hailee Steinfeld
Central Park, an animated musical comedy from Bob’s Burgers creator Loren Bouchard
An adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy
Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon’s Little America, based on Epic Magazine’s series of true stories of American immigrants
A psychological thriller from executive producer by M. Night Shyamalan
A drama series centered around NBA star Kevin Durant
A new show from the creator of La La Land
A Kristen Wiig comedy based on Curtis Sittenfeld’s upcoming short-story collection You Think It, I’ll Say It
A futuristic world-building drama called See
A docuseries called Home
Are You Sleeping? starring Octavia Spencer and based on Kathleen Barber’s novel of the same name
A reboot of Steven Spielberg’s ’80s anthology Amazing Stories
A new sci-fi drama from Ronald D. Moore

Did we miss anything?

Tags: apple tv shows, j.j. abrams, little voice, sara bareilles

About the Author

Kirk Hiner has been writing for the Apple web since 1997, having served as editor of Applelinks and the Technology Tell Apple Channel. In addition to his work with BEST Apple TV, Kirk currently contributes to Mac Gamer HQ and Pure Nintendo. He lives with his wife and three children in small-town Ohio where the land is cheap and the air is (relatively) clean.