Sara Bareilles Takes Us Backstage for New Year’s Eve PBS Special

Sara Bareilles performed both old and new songs during three career-spanning shows at The Kennedy Center in September, but she stuck to a tried and true pre-show ritual.

“I always pour a tiny bit of bourbon [before going onstage],” Bareilles, 45, exclusively reveals in her Backstage Pass feature in the latest issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now. “I don’t even really drink it anymore —I’ve just been doing this since I was in my 20s.”

Apart from her boozy tradition, Bareilles likes to “touch in with whoever is going on stage” with her before showtime. For the Kennedy Center shows in Washington, D.C. — which were filmed for PBS’ Next at the Kennedy Center series and will premiere on December 31 — that included special guests Rufus Wainwright, Emily King and David Ryan Harris and composer Nadia DiGiallonardo on the piano.

When connecting with her fellow musicians, Bareilles also likes to set an intention for the performance.

“Spiritually, I try to really touch in on this idea that the best shows are when I can stay in the mind state of, ‘It’s not about me,’” Bareilles shares. “Stepping on stage is really not about me — it’s about what we can offer to the audience. On my better nights, I really can get out of my own way.”

Bareilles performed some of the most beloved tunes from her songbook for the PBS special, which is titled Sara Bareilles: New Year’s Eve With the National Symphony Orchestra & Friends. She tells Us that her 2007 song “Gravity” was a “real highlight” of the show.

“I stepped away from the piano for that and just got to sing with the backing of this beautiful orchestra with an incredible arrangement done by Rob Moose,” she recalls.

Bareilles is all about the music, so it comes as no surprise that her list of dressing room essentials is short and simple.

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“Snacks, good lighting and a mirror. Basic stuff. I don’t have a bowl of green M&Ms,” the singer-songwriter jokes. “I don’t really like wasting things. Sometimes you get into a habit of having everything under the sun at your fingertips. I really just want a bottle of bourbon, some water, good lighting and my dog, [Louie].”

Bareilles says that her dog, whom she adopted with fiancé Joe Tippett in 2022, is “truly the most helpful” hack for keeping her “present” and “grounded” before a show. With him by her side, she doesn’t need good luck charms.

“I’m not a superstitious person in that way. I mean, I definitely love talismans and I have tons of meaningful tchotchkes in my life, but I really feel like the thing I carry with me is more of a mindset,” she explains. “I’m trying to cultivate a real mindset and that’s the thing that can move with me into different environments.”

One of the tunes that Bareilles performed during The Kennedy Center shows is “Enough,” a song she wrote for the musical adaptation of Meg Wolitzer’s novel The Interestings, which is currently in the workshop phase.

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“I wrote ‘Enough’ before I had even finished the book,” she tells Us. “I was so moved by the character of Dennis and the themes that were coming up around childhood and growing up and what is enough and when can we be content with what we have?”

Bareilles adds that she felt “so close” to the characters when reading The Interestings, specifically Dennis’ wife, Jules, who has “a hard time letting go” of the “ambition” she had when she was younger.

“It’s something that I wrestle with in my life quite a bit, too,” she shares.

Sara Bareilles: New Year’s Eve With the National Symphony Orchestra & Friends will air on PBS, PBS.org and the PBS app Tuesday, December 31, at 8 p.m. ET.

For more on Bareilles, pick up the latest issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now.