Jagged Little Pills opened December 5, and here is my review.
From the minute you sit down and the lights darken, you are engaged in this show.
Alanis Morissette’s music is brilliant, the cast is terrific and the story is wrenching, but real and needs to be exposed.
A Connecticut family that seems to have all the “trimmings”—husband successful business exec, mother—beautiful, seemingly “perfect” in all ways, adopted daughter that expresses her individuality, and son who finds out that he made Harvard—the trimmings of success—but are they Happy?
As the play goes on, everything unravels, as this seemingly perfect family, falls apart. From the mother’s addiction to pain killers which she desperately hides from her family and friends, to the rape of her son’s classmate and his dilemma about revealing what actually happened.
The music, dance numbers, revolving set are so engaging—the audience breaks into applause at the end of several passionate numbers. If I had to say one thing that could be toned down, it is a few overdone moments of the mother’s portrayal—it seems a little melodramatic in her desperate moments.
Would I recommend it—hell Yes. Go and feel. Some may not be able to handle the material—but this is our reality these days. Be courageous—you may not be entertained like the traditional musical of years passed, but you will be moved by the dramatic portrayal of today’s reality.
