Photo:Aurora Rose/Variety via Getty
Aurora Rose/Variety via Getty
Sara Bareillesand Joe Tippett haveWaitressto thank for their love story.
The two first met in 2015 while working together on the musical during its out-of-town tryout at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
While Bareilles famously wrote the score for the show, Tippett played Earl, the moody husband of the story’s protagonist, Jenna, before the show’s official move to Broadway.
In 2017,the two went public with their romanceas they attended a handful of events together, including the opening night for The New Group’s playAll the Fine Boys,PEOPLE and EW’s Upfronts Partyand the 2017 Tony Awards.
Now,the couple is set to tie the knot. On New Year’s Day in 2023, the singer announcedher engagement to Tippett, writing, “Yes to marrying this man. It’s an easy, earned, relaxed YES.”
From his acting background to his relationship milestones with Bareilles, here’s everything to know about Tippett.
He has starred inWaitressseveral times
Walter McBride/Getty
After making his Broadway debut inAirline Highwayin 2015, Tippett played Earl Hunterson in the American Repertory Theater production ofWaitress.
Though he didn’t initially transfer with the production when it first moved to Broadway in April 2016,he did take on the Broadway role a year lateras he succeeded Will Swenson.
After the production closed in January 2020, the showreturned in a limited engagement in 2021, with Bareilles as the lead role of Jenna and Tippett as her on-stage husband Earl.
Most recently, he was in the 2021 miniseriesMare of Easttownand the 2022 musical movieSpiritedstarring Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds.
His brother got him into theater
During an interview with Broadway.com, Tippett revealed that it was actuallyhis brother who encouraged him to get into theater. “My brother got me into theater when they were shorthanded for the school production ofBye Bye Birdie,” he explained. “I was just picking up girls — lifting them, not hitting on them. Well, maybe a little of both.”
He played football in high school
In addition to doing small school productions in high school, Tippett was quite the athlete,playing football for Damascus High Schoolin Damascus, Maryland.
“I could’ve gone to college on an athletic scholarship, but I’d started dabbling in theatre and became interested in that,“he told StageBuddy about his sports career.
He and Bareilles went public with their romance in 2017
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After working together onWaitressduring its out-of-town tryout at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the two went public with their romance in 2017 as they posed together at the opening night forAll the Fine Boys,starring Tippett.
They later took their romance to the Tony Awards as they walked the red carpet together at the 2017 ceremony, where Bareilles presented on stage alongside Patina Miller.
In June 2023,the couple returned to the Tony Awardsas Bareilles was nominated for leading actress in a musical role in the revival of Stephen Sondheim’sInto the Woods.
“@joetipps you are infinite and you fascinate me,” Bareilles wrote. “From your very particular feelings about wet sponges or how the silverware gets loaded in a dishwasher, to your playful otter spirit, sense of adventure and the uncanny ability to find music and art in absolutely everything… you are my favorite and most unpredictable person.I am the luckiest to love youand I intend to keep getting better at it.”
The actor returned the sentiment in a post of his own.
“I love the way you love me. I am addicted to the sound of your laugh. I am in constant awe at the size of your heart and the art that spills from it,” he said onInstagram. “Knowing my soul is braided together with yours means I will never not have a home and that is my most valued treasure.”
He and Bareilles share a dog named Louie
In early 2022, the two gota sweet puppy named Louie, who they regularly post about on their social media pages. “My boys. @joetipps #louiethedogofmydreams,” the singer captioneda photo of Tippett and their dogon Instagram in April 2022.
He and Bareilles are engaged
Sara Bareilles/Instagram
In January 2023, Bareilles and Tippettannounced their engagement.The Mare of Easttownstar proposed with a unique gold feather band.
“@joetipps you are exactly who I want. The more I know you the more I know I love you…and you have introduced me to parts of myself I was afraid to love,” the “Brave” singer wrote on Instagram. “What a gift you are. Let the games begin. Onward into absolutely everything with you.”
In March 2024, Bareilles gave PEOPLE anupdate on wedding planning, explaining that she doesn’t “want it to become about producing a big party.” Her two must-haves, however, are “delicious food and people being warm.”
Bareilles continued, “I want to be rooted in the joy and the celebration of finding someone I love this much and wanting to shout it from the mountaintops.”
source: people.com
