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Jagged Little Pill
Jagged Little Pill is a jukebox musical inspired by a 1995 album with the same title. It has lyrics by Morissette, music by Alanis Morissette and Glen Ballard, and a book by Diablo Cody. The musical also includes melodious numbers by Guy Sigsworth and Michael Farrell. It is directed by Diane Paulus and first premiered in May 2018 at the American Repertory Theater, Cambridge. It opened on Broadway the following year (2019).
Jagged Little Pill made a record for having the most nominations for awards in the 2019-2020 season. The musical was nominated in fifteen categories and won two at the Tony Awards in 2021, followed by a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. The Broadway version also received good praise from critics, though some did say it was a little too earnest.
Jagged Little Pill has two acts with twelve musical numbers in each. Smiling and Predator was written and composed for the musical. Michael Farrell co-composed both tracks with Alanis Morissette and Glen Ballard.
Plot and Characters
The musical has eight characters- Mary Jane (MJ) Healy, Steve Healy, Mary Frances (Frankie) Healy, Nicholas (Nick) Healy, Jo Taylor, Bella Fox, Phoenix, and Andrew Montefiore. Frankie and Nick are MJ and Steve’s teenage children. Bella and Andrew are Nick’s friends, while Jo and Phoenix are Frankie’s friends.
The musical starts with MJ writing a Christmas letter and ends with MJ writing another Christmas letter the next year. A lot happens over the year, which changes the lives of the characters in different ways. Jagged Little Pill deals with dysfunctional family dynamics, parental pressure on kids, gender identity, sexual relationships, rape, addiction, racism, etc. Frankie is bisexual, and Jo is nonbinary.
MJ deals with opiate addiction after a car accident while pressuring Nick to be a model son and get into Harvard University. Nick is battling his demons, and Frankie wants to explore her sexuality and find her voice. The carefully maintained illusion of a happy family shatters, and it's up to them to decide how to repair the damage.
There was a controversy with Jo’s character as it was initially played by Lauren Patten. The production company tried to change Jo’s character to cisgender but apologized after the backlash from the audience. They said they would revise the script again and cast nonbinary actors for Jo’s role. Jo is addressed as they/them throughout the musical.