Alanis Morissette’s jagged little pill was released the summer I was 16. To call it part of my life’s soundtrack is to understate the importance of that album. So I was intrigued when the Marin Musical Theatre Company announced they would be staging jagged little pill, the musical, at Novato Theater Company Playhouse (now running through April 12).
The plot follows Frankie (Imri M. Tate) and her mother, Mary Jane (Susan Zelinsky). Frankie is trying to navigate a hetero-normative PWI high school as a bisexual non-monogamous third-culture poet activist while Mary Jane deals with a failing marriage, an opiate addiction and the unresolved emotional pain of suppressed SA. Mother and daughter’s rocky relationship comes to a head when it’s revealed that perfect son Nick (Lucas Michael Chandler) witnessed the SA of a friend by another of his friends. Frankie wants him to help the victim by testifying, but MJ worries that Nick will lose his acceptance to Harvard and wants him to stay out of it.
If one just had to urban-dictionary some of that explanation, then they already know one of the issues this script faces. It doesn’t shy away from ANY hot-topic issue. The first act drowns the audience in every societal ill that it can think of. However, the second act brings focus to the narrative, allowing the spectacular cast to shine.
Co-directors Katie Wickes and Jenny Boynton have put together an astonishingly talented cast.
Of special note is Evvy Carlstrom-March’s Jo. As Frankie’s SO, Carlstrom-March brings a level of controlled intensity to the role that focuses any scenes they are in and helps to keep the play’s angst from becoming overwhelming. That their rendition of “You Oughta Know” might be better than the original is reason enough to watch the show.
Wickes and Boynton have also choreographed some really interesting dances into the piece. While the choreography gets loose when the entire cast is on the small stage, principal dancers Isabella Qureshi and Morgan Olson give hauntingly beautiful performances.
Musical director Megan Schoenbohm is an amazing musician who has assembled (and leads) a phenomenal band.
Overall, jagged little pill is a high-energy, in-your-face show whose second act would make up for the uneven first act if not for one thing. A moment has been added to the curtain call, of all places, that completely changes the play.
It’s a cheap shot, and this cast and crew deserved better.
Marin Musical Theatre Company presents ‘jagged little pill’ through April 12 at the Novato Theater Company Playhouse, 5420 Nave Drive, Ste. C. Fri & Sat, 7:30pm; Sun, 2pm. $18–$30. 415.883.4498. novatotheatercompany.org.
