“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.
The center of plot is an upwardly mobile family of four who live in Connecticut. The father is addicted to porn and is at his office 60 hours per week; his wife is the perfect mother but can’t seem to stop taking oxycodone and fentanyl; they have a Black adopted daughter and a son who is a picture-perfect high school senior and just got accepted to Harvard but now has a legal moral dilemma
Right there,
you see enough material for not only a musical, but probably a miniseries on
cable to maybe an afternoon soap opera.
The
performers are excellent, especially Broadway veterans Heidi Blickenstaff as
the mother and Chris Hoch as the father.
To this
novice of Alanis Morrisette’s music, the songs have a lot of emotion and angst
but are musically uninteresting and not particularly memorable.
Several
times during the show, the music is so loud that it is almost painful. The
sound quality is uneven and distorting the words. At other times everything is balanced,
and the dialogue is clear.
The
choreography by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and stage direction by Diane Paulus not
only brought a perfect flow to the story but also stressed the emotions of the
narrative.
Yes, the
writers are able to give us a rather (true to Broadway standards) positive ending,
but the core of the story is dark and discouraging. Do our teenagers really
live in a world filled with such insecurity, lack of sincere human connection,
confusion concerning gender identity and the pressure of instant gossip via
cell phones?
“Jagged”
paints a bleak picture.
Also, the
show seemed to check all the boxes of current liberal cultural life, not
wanting to leave anything out. It looked
like a veritable fruit salad of social issues of the day. How soon will this play be totally dated?
“Jagged” has
experienced a high level of success on Broadway (15 Tony nominations) but I
left the theater wanting to hear something about building real connections with
people and giving us hope that kids can actually survive in today’s world with
their morals, sensibilities and emotions still in place.
“Jagged
Little Pill” will play Wharton through Sunday, February 5. Whatoncenter.com for tickets.
4 comments:
The material doesn’t interest me.
Great review -- I noticed/mention the lyric-obscuring loudness of the music, too, in my review. Laura Stebbns was in our row, and mentioned during intermission to some house manager or the like that the music was painfully loud. Assuming you were also there Tuesday, "reviewer night" -- and MAYbe they got the message?
I can understand why this play received 15 Tony nominations, I was riveted, by the story, and the outstanding performances by the cast especially the Mother,Dad,& their children. I learned a great deal about the suffering of addicted individuals, and the incredible pain & trauma of rape. They succeeded in shining a light on and giving a voice to people victimized by sexual abuse,and addiction.The music was painfully loud,
and the lights glaringly bright, all in an effort to underscore how important it is for all of us to understand & have empathy for those suffering. Cathy Kerwin
What a surprising subject to be presented as a musical. It reflects courage and confidence on the parts of the authors and producers. It is not surprising that it was not entirely successful to the eyes and ears of a member of my generation.
This must have been a difficult review to write, but, I thank you Ken, it was very interesting to read.
Post a Comment