“Jagged
Little Pill”, now playing as East Lansing’s Wharton Center, is a jukebox
musical based on the songs of singer/songwriter superstar, Alanis Morrisette.
The original
album of the same name was released in the 90s and sold tens of millions of
copies.
Writing a
compelling musical play from a record album is a challenging task. In this
case, Academy Award winning screenwriter Diablo Cody was responsible for the
story.
Although “Jagged”
is clearly a rock show, it is also a serious play. One person warned me, “It’s deep”. I wouldn’t quite agree with the words he
chose, but the show has a subject matter which demands our attention: rape,
drug use, family dysfunction, me-too, adoption, race, gender, sex – I think
I’ve got it all.
