Alanis Morissette (via her Facebook page)
A new musical, Jagged Little Pill, “inspired by the themes and raw emotions laid bare” in Alanis Morissette’s widely successful 1995 album of the same name, will open on Broadway this fall, at the Broadhurst Theatre. Performances begin November 3 with opening night scheduled for Dec. 5. Several songs have been released. (Listen to them below.)
Morissette turned 45 on June 1.
The production follows a record-breaking, sold-out world premiere at American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Mass., in 2018.
It comes with a distinctive pedigree. Jagged Little Pill is directed by Tony Award winner Diane Paulus (Waitress, Pippin) and features an original story by Academy Award-winning writer Diablo Cody (Juno, Tully), music by 7-time Grammy Award winner Morissette and 6-time Grammy winner Glen Ballard, and lyrics by Morissette.
The Jagged Little Pill creative team (L-R): Cherkaoui, Paulus, Morissette, Cody, Kitt. (Photo: Matthew Murphy; used with permission)
(There’s more: Movement Direction and Choreography is by Olivier Award winner Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui [“Apesh*t” by The Carters; Beyoncé at The Grammys 2017] and Musical Supervision, Orchestrations and Arrangements are by Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winner Tom Kitt [Next to Normal, American Idiot].)
Check out the Jagged Little Pill official website.
Listen to “All I Really Want”
[Jagged Little Pill was released in 1995 and became a juggernaut, reaching #1 on the U.S. album chart that October 7. It ultimately sold a reported 33 million copies worldwide and earned 1996 Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and Best Rock Album. Morissette also earned Grammys for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance and Best Rock Song for the album’s “You Oughta Know.” That same year, she was nominated for Best New Artist but lost to Hootie & the Blowfish.]
The critics loved the show’s 2018 10-week tryout: “Triumphant! Not since Rent has a musical invested so many bravura roles with so much individual life” – Variety; “Wildly entertaining and wickedly funny in just the right places. We’re reminded that Morissette’s songs are a treasure” – Boston Globe
Still, bringing a musical to Broadway is not for the weak of heart. The Great White Way is scattered with leftover Playbills of shows with high aspirations that failed to find an audience and, perhaps most crucially, a favorable review from The New York Times.
Released on June 13, 1995, the tremendous success of Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill skyrocketed her to become the best-selling international debut artist in history, thanks to such songs as “You Oughta Know,” “Hand in My Pocket” and “Ironic,” a title she still holds. Nearly 25 years after its release, Jagged Little Pill continues to be one of the Top 20 best-selling albums of all time.
Related: Morissette’s Ex-Manager Gets 6 Years For $7MM Theft
“This process, and what this process has yielded artistically and collaboratively, has been nothing short of a revelation, a balm and an arrival for me,” said Morissette in the original Jan. 28 announcement. “It is a culmination of so much of what my life’s work has been oriented toward. To work with Diablo Cody, whose heart is as open as her mind is bright and brave, has taken this record – which has meant so much to me – to a whole other level of depth, meaning and natural activism.”
Listen to “You Learn,” from the cast
Atlantic Records will release the Original Broadway Cast recording.
1 Comment so far
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