Preview: JAGGED LITTLE PILL at Center Stage

It is now thirty years since Alanis Morissette released her album "Jagged Little Pill," but its musical theater incarnation is just about ready for Santa Barbara. As a theater company dedicated to contemporary musicals, Out-of-the-Box, selected the show for inclusion in its season because of its iconic songs and the musical's strong storytelling.

I spoke with Out-of-the-Box's founder Samantha Eve was in the midst of directing the show when she shared the challenges of staging a Broadway show like "Jagged Little Pill" in the dimensions of Center Stage’s more intimate setting. “The show opened in New York just before COVID hit,” Eve explained. “It never really had the opportunity to reach its full audience. Doing it here, in Center Stage’s black box space, gives us a chance to focus on the human dimension of the story—the closeness, the quiet moments.” A rock concert at the scale of a family therapy session.

The family in question, the Healys, face problems common to American society. The mother, Mary Jane, suffers from an opioid addiction she picked up after an injury, while the father tries to lose himself in his work. And then there are the teenagers: an adopted daughter troubled by the racial and wealth disparities around her, and the son who is not quite up to the challenge of being the golden boy and family savior. The emotional weight of songs like “You Oughta Know,” “Hand in My Pocket,” and “Ironic” demands characters with big demons to exorcise. Eve describes how the new context reframes Morrisette's signature tunes: “these familiar songs acquire new layers of meaning. You hear the lyrics differently when they’re tied to characters struggling to be honest with themselves.”

The closeness of Center Stage Theater, with seating for just over a hundred, promises to heighten the audience’s sensitivity to the truthfulness of the performances. “It’s a space that demands honesty,” Eve says. “There’s no place to hide, for the characters or for the audience.” A rock concert where everyone has a front-row seat.

Santa Barbara Awards - Live Stats

Best Musical - Top 3

1. SHREK (Central Coast Theatre Company)

22.8% of votes

2. LEGALLY BLONDE (Central Coast Theatre Company)

17.7% of votes

3. YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (Theatre Group at SBCC)

15% of votes

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