Jagged Little Pill
What happens when you have a sexually deprived husband obsessed with pornography, a daughter having sex with her new boyfriend, a son afraid to stand up for a friend, and a mother addicted to painkillers— combined with a touch of comedic wit and the brilliance of Alanis Morissette's lyrics and music? Well, you have a smash-hit touring production musical called Jagged Little Pill. Now playing on Broadway In Chicago's James M. Nederlander Theater, this Tony and Grammy Award-winning musical, Jagged Little Pill, is brilliant and what Broadway theater is all about. What makes it so remarkable is its gripping storyline, narrated by the main character battling the tormented pressure of her past and present as she struggles with being perfect in everything. The play begins with Mary Jane Healy, fondly known as (MJ) writing her annual family Christmas letter, highlighting all of the wonderful things happening in the Healy family. Her husband Steve received a promotion, her adopted daughter Frankie loves writing short stories and poetry, and her finest achievement, and the only thing she has ever done right, son Nick received a letter informing him that he got accepted into Harvard University. But when MJ gets into a car accident and can't get a refill of her pain medication, she resorts to unhealthy measures of buying opioids from a street dealer. Inside the walls of this perfect family are issues of drug abuse, depression, sexual assault, addiction, gender expression, bitterness, lies, and turmoil. With MJ pressuring everyone, including herself, to showcase the ideal family image ("All I Really Want"), perfection is only a pill away from breaking up their entire household.
Starting the Healy's Heidi Blickenstaff (MJ), Lauren Chanel( Frankie), Chris Hoch(Steve), Dillon Klena(Nick) and Jade McLeod (Jo), and Allison Sheppard as Bella, Jagged Little Pill shares passionate stories of imperfect lives and troubling events that shaped their lives forever. The central character, Mary Jane Healy, was played phenomenally by Heidi Blickenstaff, reprising her 2021 role as Mary Jane Healy at the Broadhurst Theatre as the mental and emotional matriarch. Blickenstaff started in Broadway's Something Rotten as Bea, a role she originated, and the musical, "title of show," provided a stellar performance in Jagged Little Pill. Her amazingly impressive switches from impeccable wit and frankness to feelings of sadness, fear, and depression were riveting, and she also delighted the audience with her exceptional voice. And speaking of outstanding vocalists, Chanel was equally as talented. The men of the Healy family, Steve, and Nick, played by Hoch and Klena, provide subordinate masculinity where the love of a husband dying to save his wife and marriage and a son willing to forgo his wishes to appease his mother softens the need to lead. Add the amazing acting and singing performance from Rishi Golani(Phoenix) and Jade McLeod, who blew the audience away with her rendition of "You Oughta Know," receiving the loudest applause; Jagged Little Pill captivated us all.
There were so many enthralling moments of expression in this production. For instance, after meeting a few friends, who angered her by making racially implied comments about her black adopted daughter, Frankie, MJ moves through her day backward. The illustrated magnificence of witnessing her reverse the moments of her day and the alluring effects of seeing individuals within her moments of reverse reflection walking, running, and even one person skipping rope backward, perfected the illusion of visualizing a day in reverse was mesmerizing. In the emotional conversation with MJ and Bella, MJ detaches herself from her past trauma when Bella, being a victim of rape, asks MJ, a former victim, "How Long?" But the most powerful scene is when Frankie and Jo (Jade McLeod) form a rally with other students to protest the rape of a student and a powerful rendition of "No" — which almost had me in tears. The entire cast was fantastic, and the beautiful, incredible graceful fluidity you witness from the dance moves of Jena VanElslander was like looking at a master class in dancing interpretation.
All of the songs in this musical are fantastic. Alanis Morissette's seminal rock lyrics and music like "Head Over Feet, Hand In My Pocket, Ironic, Uninvited” and previously mentioned "You Oughta Know" will blow you away. And the incredible intermingling of narrative, songs, music, and production is so exquisite it's like witnessing the formation of the Hands of God and Adam by Michelangelo. Of course, that might be overly dramatic, but this play is sensational from beginning to end, and it touches on so many relevant issues families deal with today; it's a Must See!
Let's Play Theatrical Review Highly Recommends Jagged Little Pill.
James M. Nederlander Theatre
Jagged Little Pill
Book by Diablo Cody
Directed by Diane Paulus
April 11 - April 23, 2023
