ItB次元官网网址檚 been almost three decades since her seminal album B次元官网网址淛agged Little PillB次元官网网址� and Alanis Morissette still finds the words she jotted down as a teenager deeply relatable.
Now 49 years old, the Ottawa native considers herself B次元官网网址渇ortunateB次元官网网址� that she can perform B次元官网网址淵ou Oughta Know,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淚ronicB次元官网网址� and most of the albumB次元官网网址檚 other songs with a conviction similar to that of her youth.
B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檙e basically value systems,B次元官网网址� she explained in a recent phone interview from her northern California home.
B次元官网网址淎nd fortunately these values, on my part, have been unwavering.B次元官网网址�
Morissette has spent ample time reflecting on B次元官网网址淛agged Little PillB次元官网网址� in recent years, discussing and dissecting how B次元官网网址淗and in My Pocket,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淩ight Through YouB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淵ou LearnB次元官网网址� became anthems for a generation of independent young women.
Anniversaries passed, an HBO documentary on the legacy of B次元官网网址淛agged Little PillB次元官网网址� was made and Morissette gave her blessing to a Broadway show built on her songs.
A touring production of B次元官网网址淛agged Little Pill: The MusicalB次元官网网址� plays TorontoB次元官网网址檚 Princess of Wales Theatre through Nov. 26, rounding out a run of Canadian stops earlier this year.
The musical weaves the Canadian singer-songwriterB次元官网网址檚 music and lyrics through the story of the Healys, a seemingly perfect American suburban family who are quietly suffocating in their own trauma.
Mary Jane, a mother of two, is secretly addicted to painkillers as she manages the fallout of a car crash, while the fire in her marriage has all but been snuffed out.
Her husband, Steve, is a workaholic whose pleasure relies on pornography.
Meanwhile, their adopted daughter Frankie is exploring her bisexuality and activist streak while figuring out her complicated identity as an adopted Black girl in a white family. Her brother Nick shoulders the weight of the B次元官网网址減erfectB次元官网网址� son whoB次元官网网址檚 just been admitted to Harvard but also harbours his own demons.
Their lives come crashing down when the rape of a local high schoolgirl forces the Healy family to contend with their value systems and the personal problems theyB次元官网网址檝e ignored.
B次元官网网址淛agged Little PillB次元官网网址� shaves the sharp edges of MorissetteB次元官网网址檚 alternative-pop compositions for the musical stage, adjusts some of the lyrics to fit characters and uses each song as fuel for the narrative. Beyond the entirety of MorissetteB次元官网网址檚 1995 album, other popular tracks in her catalogue have their moment, including B次元官网网址淯ninvited,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淭hank UB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淪o Pure.B次元官网网址�
When Morissette was first approached by producers nearly a decade ago with the idea of making a stage musical out of her work, she said she was less concerned with tarnishing the albumB次元官网网址檚 place in music history than some might assume.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 not that not worried about legacy,B次元官网网址� she assured. B次元官网网址淚 feel like people put so much pressure on themselves for what they B次元官网网址榣eave behind.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�
Morissette had some boundaries. She didnB次元官网网址檛 want the project to feel like a jukebox musical that dispensed her songs with little meaning.
She told producers that the showB次元官网网址檚 creators must share her artistic values, in particular, her support of self-expression, connection and activism.
B次元官网网址淯nless they could meld together and we all had the same mission, I wasnB次元官网网址檛 really interested,B次元官网网址� she said.
It took more than half a decade of mingling with Pulitzer Prize-winning writers and other potential creative partners to find her answer in B次元官网网址淛unoB次元官网网址� screenwriter Diablo Cody and theatre and opera director Diane Paulus, known for modern spins on classic stage productions.
Morissette said Cody dove into the lyrics of her songs and dismantled some of the ideas to construct the characters in the musical.
B次元官网网址�(The idea) became something that I not only could get behind but could get behind quite passionately,B次元官网网址� the singer added.
For her part in its creation, she shared ideas with Cody and Paulus on how the plotline should take shape.
B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 have any direct experience with adoption, however, a lot of the other B次元官网网址榖ig issuesB次元官网网址� not only have I experienced myself, but I had some insight,B次元官网网址� Morissette added.
B次元官网网址淛agged Little Pill: The MusicalB次元官网网址� made its debut in 2018 at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Mass. before opening in New York the following year.
The Broadway show closed in 2021 after multiple COVID-19 outbreaks within the company plagued the production, but the musical lives on through its touring cast. Theatre company Concord Theatrical announced this week it acquired worldwide stage rights to take the show overseas.
MorissetteB次元官网网址檚 role at this point is largely as a figurehead who occasionally does press to promote the latest runs. But she finds the album B次元官网网址淛agged Little Pill,B次元官网网址� remains a considerable emotional outlet.
Only B次元官网网址淣ot the Doctor,B次元官网网址� one of the final songs on the record, gives Morissette B次元官网网址渁 tiny, baby cringeB次元官网网址� when she sings it now. The lyrics are about refusing to compromise in a romantic relationship and were written from the vantage point of a young woman with little experience, she now acknowledges.
B次元官网网址淚t was a little flippant,B次元官网网址� she says. B次元官网网址淚 didnB次元官网网址檛 realize the degree to which you actively support each other in the healing process if youB次元官网网址檙e in a really connected relationship.B次元官网网址�
All of the other songs still resonate emotionally.
B次元官网网址淚 can move it B次元官网网址� physically dance it and relive it,B次元官网网址� she says.
B次元官网网址淚f IB次元官网网址檓 on stage, upset, angry, scared, lonely B次元官网网址� all of those things B次元官网网址� itB次元官网网址檚 almost like an invitation for people to feel those feelings together with me.B次元官网网址�
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