Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill Earns a Standing Ovation at the Durham Performing Arts Center
This article was published in the March 1, 2023 edition of Triangle Review.
Take your teenage or adolescent kids to see Jagged Little Pill: The Musical, playing now through Sunday, March 5th at the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC). Make a date with them. Go out to dinner in downtown Durham, then walk to DPAC and, together, experience the thoughts, feelings, and issues provoked by this jukebox musical, based on Canadian rock icon Alanis Morissette's 1995 studio album, with Glen Ballard, and the 2020 Tony-Award®-winning book by Diablo Cody, with additional music by Michael Farrell and Guy Sigsworth.
When the musical debuted in 2018, it became the highest-grossing production at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, MA, which is no surprise, given that Alanis Morissette's album by the same name is considered one of the most important albums of the '90s and of the alternative rock genre in general, selling 33 million copies, topping the charts in 13 countries, and winning five GRAMMYS, including Album of the Year.
Like the album, Jagged Little Pill: The Musical, directed on Broadway and on tour by Diane Paulus, personifies the angst felt not only by teens and adolescents, but by the adults that they become, who -- no matter how they try to keep up appearances -- cannot escape their anxiety when faced with the state of their world and their own place in it.
Heidi Blickenstaff plays opioid-addicted, privileged white super-mom Mary Jane Healy at DPAC; and her voice matches her acting prowess. Blickenstaff belts out the lyrics to "Smiling," "Forgiven," "Head over Feet," and "Uninvited," with feeling and a style reminiscent of Alanis Morissette, herself. And Blickenstaff never fails to draw audience laughter when delivering one of her character's poignantly funny one-liners.
Lauren Chanel makes for a powerfully believable Frankie Healy, the Healy's adopted black daughter, and does her own share of Alanis Morissette-reminiscent vocalizing, serenading our minds as well as our ears with her renditions of "Hand in My Pocket," "Ironic," and "Unprodigal Daughter."
Rishi Golani's vocals, as Frankie's boy love-interest Phoenix, ring beautifully every time he opens his mouth, making the voices of those who sing with him sound even better. And Jade McLeod, who plays Frankie's girlfriend Jo, not only holds a tune but seems to have mastered Alanis Morissette's signature throat-catching notes.
This musical is heavy on the singing side, as expected, given that it's based on an album. I would have preferred a little more with regard to plot and dialogue, and I think that some of the recurring tunes could have been omitted, so the production wasn't a full 2.5 hours.
Every song is accompanied by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui's modern choreography, Justin Townsend's concert-like lighting, and scenic designer Riccardo Hernández and video designer Lucy Mackinnon's background screens, depicting various photographic settings in a manner akin to a music video. Neon-lit rooftop frames switch between blue, red, yellow and white, depending on the mood, as giant walls in the background split and move, revealing a school, train, playground, church, bedroom ... so many different scenes throughout the production. I was particularly intrigued by the use of multiple actors appearing as the same character at the same time, struggling with themselves in synchrony with the lyrics.
Another highlight is Tom Kitt's orchestrations, played by a live eight-piece band conducted by Matt Doebler. The band plays throughout the production from a balcony at the back of the stage. Though the band is made visible in the first scene of the musical, which opens on a bare stage illuminated by blue neon lights, the musicians are mostly hidden for the rest of the show. This in no way affects the live energy of their music, which skillfully and seamlessly accompanies the singers throughout. Even after the actors' bows at the end of the production, which drew immediate standing ovations across the audience, the band continued playing Alanis Morissette's "You Learn" until nearly everyone had left the theater:
You live, you learn
You love, you learn
You cry, you learn
You lose, you learn
You bleed, you learn
You scream, you learn
You and your teenager will learn a lot about each other and how you feel about the world by attending DPAC's production of Jagged Little Pill together. It will undoubtedly spark discussion about current issues that affect you both, including prescription and illicit drugs, sexual assault, and -- particularly pertinent this time of year -- the pressures of getting into a competitive college. Ticket prices start at just $30. What are you waiting for?
Jagged Little Pill's North American tour stars Lauren Chanel as Frankie Healy (photo by Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade).
