Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill - The Musical
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17/07/2022 until 11/09/2022
The long-awaited return of ‘Jagged Little Pill – The Musical’ to Sydney was a triumph.
After sold-out performances of a limited run back in December 2021 for the reopening of the refurbished Theatre Royal, the show has since been a smash hit in Melbourne at the Comedy Theatre. Sydney’s return season reprises most of the original cast and offers an extraordinary night of entertainment.
Canadian singer/songwriter Alanis Morissette’s seminal album of the same name was released in June 1995. Her third studio album was a marked departure from earlier dance pop and oozed teenage angst and aggression with a strong focus on feminist issues, unsuccessful relationships and the need to make choices. She showed a maturity in writing that belied her 21 years.
The first of her albums to be released internationally, ‘Jagged Little Pill’ was a breakout and became an international success with over 33 million sales, making it one of the best-selling albums ever. It was toured widely (supported by Radiohead in the U.S) and widely acclaimed. It went on to win five Grammy Awards and was named 69th in Rolling Stone’s ‘The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time’.
Adapted as a musical in 2013 and written by Diablo Cody (creator of ‘Juno’), the theatrical incarnation of ‘Jagged Little Pill’ had a short season in Cambridge in 2018 before opening in Broadway the following year. It went on to win Grammys and Tony Awards, receiving 15 Tony nominations including Best Musical. A World Tour of the show had originally been touted for 2020 to coincide with the 25th Anniversary of the album’s release and a tour by Alanis, but like so many other productions, planning was thwarted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Not surprisingly, the anthemic music and sentiments of the original album still resonate strongly with the largely Generation X audience today.
What was more interesting though was how well its themes and sensibilities have been adapted for younger generations and still stand up for current times. Morissette has influenced a generation of female songwriters over the past decades, including the likes of Avril Lavigne, and it is easy to see why. The songs’ universal messaging is still central to much of today’s music and their spirit parallels the ‘Me Too’ and ‘Black Lives Matter’ movements, debates around sexual orientation and gender identification, substance abuse, social media and privacy, and even religion.
It might seem easy to dismiss ‘Jagged Little Pill – The Musical’ as simply another “Jukebox Musical” in the same vein as ‘Mamma Mia’ or ‘We Will Rock You’, but the social issues it speaks to are clearly relevant and each song, (including some newly crafted ones), has its place in the whole. Somehow the many disparate topics are interwoven; some better than others – like the tracks on the album itself.
Set in Connecticutt, ‘Jagged Little Pill – The Musical’ is a simple story of the Healys – a dysfunctional family with relatable, middle-class sensibilities. There’s the workaholic, porn-obsessed father Steve (Tim Draxl), competitive, painkiller-addicted mother Mary-Jane (Natalie Bassingthwaite), golden child, Harvard-bound son Nick (Liam Head) and adopted African-American, bisexual, activist daughter Frankie (Emily Nkomo). Their performances are all solid and Nat’Bas’ in particular delivers some heart-wrenching ballads and a believable portrayal of a conflicted addict trying to hold her family together.
The standout performance came from Frankie’s girlfriend Jo (Maggie McKenna, the lead role in ‘Muriel’s Wedding). They and Frankie’s other love interest, the school’s newcomer, Phoenix (Aydan, who recently played Harry in ‘Fangirls’), are central to the musical’s narrative and its theme of life being about making choices.
The storyline revolves around the many relationships of the Healys both at home and at school which are brought to a head following an assault on Nick’s friend Bella Fox (Grace Miell) at a high-school party and the subsequent disintegration and unravelling of their lives.
Whilst the subject matter is serious, the tone is tempered by a deftly applied light touch and there are moments of comic relief sporadically injected. Humour, albeit often dark, comes when least expected. In the classroom, Frankie is reading out the lyrics of ‘Ironic’ as a homework assignment that she has personally written and fellow classmates question whether the instances referenced are in fact examples of “irony”. This is something that has been asked about the song itself over the years. In another instance, Phoenix suggests that he was named after “… the mythical bird of flame - or a third-rate city – your choice”. Later, a reference to ‘Die Hard’ as a Christmas movie also received a round of laughter from the audience.
The music is obviously the foundation on which everything else is built though. Original orchestration and arrangements by Tom Kitt (Next to Normal, American Idiot) is artfully crafted. A sizeable live band appears onstage for much of the show, set on an elevated mezzanine above the performers. They are exceptional musicians and with suitable amplification to recreate the atmosphere of a rock concert.
Rock anthems seamlessly blend with haunting ballads and there are numerous instances of multi-part harmonies which are each superbly delivered. These are sometimes used to draw parallels between characters and generations.
Audience members feel very much like they’re at a concert. We are treated to a display that warrants feedback and there are lengthy periods of applause after each and every song. Maggie McKenna at one point in the Second Act received a standing ovation for their forceful rendition of ‘You Oughta Know’ – one that lasted well over a minute. At the play’s end, everyone was on their feet again.
‘Jagged Little Pill’ delivers high-energy, movement and exceptional dance routines by a large ensemble using original choreography by Beyonce’s long-time collaborator Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui.
The look of the show is 100% 90’s MTV-influenced music video. Video screens on sliding panels are used for various VFX and at other times to recreate the ambience of train stations, hospital wards, a church and the streets of New York. The use of moveable props on casters allowed for creative stage design and rhythmic movement that complements and provides further opportunities for choreographic choices.
Lighting is a combination of 80s/90s neon fluorescence and washes of bold colours; blue used to mark depression or ambivalence, red moments of danger. Clever use of rapid black outs and flashes of action accompanied by strong crashes of sound are effectively employed in one key scene to suggest a time-lapse montage. At other times, innovative use of spotlights draw attention to significant details on an otherwise crowded stage.
Don’t miss this musical. It delivers so much more than simply a celebration of the songs on a landmark album.
‘Jagged Little Pill’ is a well-structured and thoughtful musical, perhaps attempting to cover too many issues in its 2 ½ hours but somehow remaining faithful to the album and not getting too entangled in the process. Morissette’s focus on the need for us to ‘Wake Up’ rather than be “… frustrated by apathy” and the need to search for common ground, comes through very strongly.
On the surface, this a story of the search for identity but this search is by no means restricted to the adolescents in the plot. Everyone has choices to make, though it’s often “… easier not to choose”.
A heartfelt and engaging evening.
Reviewed by David Hislop