‘Jagged Little Pill’ is almost too much to swallow
I must confess I’m an ’80s happy-clappy dancepop kind of guy. So the angsty turn in music in the 1990s was for me, well, a bummer. Still, I was of course aware of Alanis Morrissette’s 1995 “Jagged Little Pill” album — who wasn’t? — and enjoyed her radio hits, like “You Learn” and “Head Over Feet.”
The same-named Broadway musical based on “Jagged Little Pill” — one of the best-selling albums of all time, by the way — is at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts this week as its tour winds down. Like the album, it’s plenty angry and angsty. It’s also a confounding mixture of social issues tossed into a musical blender.
I can picture an early story-writing meeting (the book of the musical is by Diablo Cody).
“You understand, it’s an Alanis Morissette jukebox musical.”
“But not lighthearted and silly like ‘Mamma Mia’?”
“Oh heavens, no. Let’s make it about drug addiction. And sexuality. And rape. And interracial adoption. And if there’s not time for another social-issues subplot, we’ll make sure to include a visual reminding people not to disregard the homeless problem.” “Sounds fun!”
I’m being flippant obviously, but not by much. Onstage, there are four to five Lifetime movie plots playing out; or maybe a year’s worth of “General Hospital” condensed into nearly three hours for the MTV generation. I say that because Diane Paulus stages the show like a series of music videos, with pulsing lights and a coterie of backup dancers who pop in to augment the songs.
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s choreography is most effective in a scene in which a solo dancer embodies the slithering, grasping nature of addiction. The dancing is eye-catching, though it then sometimes pulls focus away from the main players. And they need our attention.
The Healys are a welloff family in well-heeled Connecticut. Mom Mary Jane, Dad Steve and all-American son Nick are white; adopted activist daughter Frankie is Black. We’re barely through the first five minutes before we learn Mom is struggling with opiates, Dad watches hardcore pornography as an escape from his increasingly estranged marriage, Nick is reeling from the pressure of being perceived as perfect and Frankie’s best friend is actually her girlfriend. Then, a family friend becomes the victim of sexual assault.
It’s commendable that “Jagged Little Pill” says something about the mirage of perfection, the struggles we face and the strength we find, but by introducing so many issues, there isn’t time to really dive too deeply into any of them. And to me, that creates a strange emotional detachment. Instead of honing in on the characters’ internal struggles, you may find yourself wondering what they will throw at you next.
Your experience may vary. To give credit where it’s due: In 2020, Diablo Cody did win both the Tony and Outer Critics Circle awards for best book of a musical.
There is a generous helping of humorous lines among the seriousness (A Christmas-letter framing device is viciously on point), and a comic scene laughingly points out that the lyrics in “Ironic” aren’t demonstrating irony. (Finally! Vindication!) Some intriguing staging ideas play out, too: One scene runs in reverse motion, the characters on stage walking backward through their day. Again, a music video comes to mind but this is a particularly visually stimulating one.
Not every performer was born to sing in Morissette’s style, but they all succeed in giving their characters heart and rootability as they go through their afterschool-special moments. Julie Reiber plays Mary Jane with driven desperation but also shows us her human frailty and delivers a searing “Uninvited”; Teralin Jones, as Frankie, aptly demonstrates how to feel comfortable in your own skin while feeling uncomfortable in your surroundings.
Understudy Delaney Brown does lovely natural work as the assault victim, and Jade McLeod makes a strong impression as Jo, Frankie’s secret love. McLeod also puts vocal fire into the crowd-pleasing “You Oughta Know,” but takes it too far into pitch-bending shouting by the end.
If you are a Morissette fan, you’ll likely enjoy “Jagged Little Pill” more than I did: Throughout, I could hear people singing along near me and saw them fist pumping the air in delight at this overloaded mix of musical nostalgia and oh-so-topical storytelling.