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Sara Bareilles, in partnership with Lincoln Center Theater and The Strangers Project, is launching “Good Grief: Stories and Song,” a three-day installation and performance series, free and open to the public, taking place August 28th – 30th, 2026 at Lincoln Center Theater’s Christopher Lightfoot Walker Lobby at the Vivian Beaumont.
In celebration of the August 28th release of her long-awaited new album Good Grief, Bareilles and the Strangers Project are collaborating to fill the Lobby, weaving together story and song, to create an immersive experience highlighting our shared humanity and our collective need for sharing.
Hundreds of stories from The Strangers Project — an ongoing collection of anonymous, handwritten true stories shared by strangers since 2009 — will be on display and intermingled with audio recordings from Bareilles’ fans who have been invited to share stories of grief. The hope is to create an invitation to the general public to interact and receive what is offered, and then gift their own stories to deepen the growing conversation.
Bareilles will join fans in person each day for a live performance on a Steinway Spirio piano installed at the center of the space, and patrons will also have the first opportunity to buy physical copies of Good Grief in a variety of formats.
During all other opening hours, the Steinway Spirio – a state of the art player piano – will fill the space with piano performances pre-recorded by Bareilles, her music becoming the soundtrack to this one of a kind gathering of story and song.
“Good Grief: Stories and Song” Open Hours:
Friday, 8/28: 3pm – 8pm
Saturday, 8/29: 10am – 6pm
Sunday, 8/30: 10am – 3pm
Bareilles will be on hand to perform songs from the new album at the following times:
Friday, 8/28: 6:30pm
Saturday, 8/29: 4:30pm
Sunday, 8/30: 1:30pm
For more info and to RSVP, please visit strangersproject.com/goodgriefstrangersproject.com/goodgrief.
Bareilles is an award-winning singer, songwriter, actor, producer, activist, and New York Times best-selling author. A two-time GRAMMY winner, she has also earned three Tony and three Primetime Emmy nominations. Bareilles has sold more than three million albums and 15 million singles in the U.S., with over 3.5 billion streams worldwide. On Broadway, Bareilles composed the music and lyrics for Waitress, later stepping into the lead role both on Broadway and the West End. Her additional theater credits include her Tony-nominated performance as the Baker’s Wife in Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into the Woods and a song on the Tony Award-nominated score for SpongeBob SquarePants. Her on-screen work includes an Emmy Award-nominated performance as Mary Magdalene in NBC’s Jesus Christ Superstar Live! and her role as Dawn Solano in the Emmy-nominated musical comedy series “Girls5eva.” She is also currently developing a musical theater adaptation of Meg Wolitzer’s bestselling novel The Interestings.
