Theater Review: ‘Jagged Little Pill’ could use a spoonful of sugar

Attractions Magazine was invited to the national Broadway tour of “Jagged Little Pill” at Dr. Phillips Center in Orlando. This jukebox musical has a completely original storyline based upon, and featuring the songs of Alanis Morissette, most notably from the eponymous album. I grew up listening to this album, but was the show a difficult pill to swallow, or did I fall “Head Over Feet”? Read on to find out!

“Jagged Little Pill” follows the story of the Healy family as the stories of their various personal demons come to light. Mary Jane Healy is a drug addict with repressed trauma and strained marital relationship with her workaholic husband, Steve. Son Nick struggles with living his life for himself and doing the right thing while daughter Frankie deals with issues related to being a black child adopted into a white family, her burgeoning sexuality, and innate desire to save the world.

While mom, MJ, is the show’s lead character (as well as far and away the highlight of the production), each of the characters are given a chance to confront their demons and try to make themselves just a little bit better by the end. Along the way, the show delves into some very heavy subject matter, including some of the darker themes brought to light by the #MeToo movement.

“Jagged Little Pill” is a jukebox musical, which means it mostly features already well-known and popular songs by Alanis Morissette as opposed to fully original music. The musical showcases songs pulled primarily from the original 1995 album, “Jagged Little Pill”, although there are also a few other songs from Morissette’s followup albums and two fully original songs. Being a jukebox musical means a separate scriptwriter came in and wrote a story to connect these otherwise unconnected songs. 

Now, full disclosure, I am not a big fan of Jukebox musicals and “Jagged Little Pill” falls victim to many of the style’s pitfalls. First, if you have any familiarity with the music, then many of the show’s main plot points are spoiled and worse, are telegraphed a mile away. For instance, “You Oughta Know” is such an iconic song about a bad breakup that it’s not hard to guess such a breakup will happen and you pretty much exactly when it will occur. (To be fair, this doesn’t stop “You Oughta Know” from being an absolute smash in this show, completely bringing the house down due to the song’s driving style and powerful lyrics, as well as the passion brought to the piece by the singer, Jade McLeod.)

Other issues I have with jukebox musicals include the hoops and choices the scriptwriter has to shoehorn in so all the songs fit in the context of the story. For instance, making sure everyone learned a lesson (even if they didn’t earn it) by the end so the cast can sing “You Learn.” Or naming the main character MJ just so it can be revealed her name is Mary Jane right when the dad decides to sing “Mary Jane.” I’m willing to accept that my personal feelings about jukebox musicals are just that, my personal feelings, but they were just one of many things that dampened my enjoyment.

The show is set in modern day, but features an ensemble of Gen Z performers wearing mid-’90s grunge clothes.The performers serve almost like a greek chorus, dancing and emphasizing songs and scenes with some truly avant garde dancing in scenes they really shouldn’t have a place in. (Yes, I know random ensemble members singing and dancing is a staple of musical theater, but I mention it because it really stuck out and occurs constantly. Only six of the show’s 23 songs don’t feature the company.) The effect reminded me of the acolytes from “Jesus Christ Superstar” or “Godspell” and more than once caused me to suppress a chuckle when I saw a dancer sneaking up to insert herself in the scene.

This is not to say any of the performances were particularly bad, per se, as the entire cast was perfectly adequate. Stand outs, as mentioned before, include Julie Reiber as lead character Mary Jane Healy and Jade McLeod as jilted lover, Jo. Reiber, in particular, does a lot of the show’s heavy lifting, owning the stage and impressing with her vocal ability and presence. 

Technically, there were several hiccups through the evening. Some mic flubs here and there, which are not uncommon, but also, at times it felt like the show was completely missing a third spotlight. A trio would be on stage singing and one would just be left in complete darkness. I tried to figure out if this was a choice meant to symbolize something, but I couldn’t come up with anything. That I asked the question at all feels like, if it was a choice, it was an unclear one. Hopefully, it was just opening night gremlins at a new venue for the tour and future showings will include all of the performers lit up appropriately. 

Ultimately, by the end of the show, I did still find myself caring about the characters and enjoying myself even if it took a bit to get there. (Word to the wise, act 2 is significantly better than act 1.) I would say a familiarity with the songs will lead to a greater enjoyment of the show and its bits. One such bit included a meta reference to one particular song not being quite as “ironic” as its name implies and was a solid gag, even if it went perhaps a little too long.

My personal distaste for the show style and some of the artistic choices aside, the power of the songs themselves and the gameness of the performers means the show remains entirely watchable if a bit disappointing for what could have been. That having been said, those wishing to see entirely new takes on Morissette’s iconic album with a Broadway level production behind it will certainly enjoy themselves.

“Jagged Little Pill” is playing now through March 24 at the Dr. Phillips Center in Orlando, Fla. For ticketing information or details on when “Jagged Little Pill” will be at a city near you, visit JaggedLittlePill.com/tour.