Review: JAGGED LITTLE PILL: THE MUSICAL at Smithtown Performing Arts Center

The sweeping music and frenetic choreography of a musical and the arrow-piercing drama of a straight play are rarely found together in the same production, but “Jagged Little Pill: the Musical” currently playing at the Smithtown Performing Arts Center through April 19, is a rare melding of those two, and even rare amongst unicorns of theater that can run the gamut of human emotion.

Director Patrick Campbell’s vision for a Greek tragedy of the modern-American family (spoiler alert, it does end on an up-note, so not a tragedy, just tragedy vibes) was a deep analysis of the perfection we all strive to project and the irreparable harm that quest to be the most enviable does to our soul. Campbell encapsulated the nihilism of Gen X and the strive for progress in their Gen Z kids.

Choreographer Vincent Donnadio created numbers that displayed the immense talent of the cast and ensemble, but also captured the “anthem” element of this show (with 90s grunge and alternative beats) that incorporated both noble and angry citizenry in songs like “You Oughtta Know."

Jess Ader-Ferretti as Supermom Mary Jane Healy who hides her addiction to pain killers was absolutely breathtaking as a matriarch slowly crumbling at the base. Ader-Ferretti sculpted a fully-formed and complicated woman who showed glimpses of her former self, like in her humorous one-liners, but always with the push-and-pull struggle of wanting to be that “perfect” mom with perfect kids, a perfect home, and a perfect body (the show premiered ten years ago so Mary Jane goes to soulcycle not pilates).

When we hear of the great trauma in Mary Jane’s past, Ader-Ferretti approaches the news as matter-of-fact and something to be dismissed with her voice not cracking and her eyes darting back-and-forth to add teeth to the resolution that dwelling on what happened makes a victim, not the act itself.

Rebecca Martowski as Frankie Healy, the adopted, Black daughter of the Healys had such a light and fury about her as she comes to blows with her mother’s narrow interpretation of her existence. Martowski is effervescent and lovable and makes her political/social upheaval known to be from the heart and from being a minority in the life she grew up in. Sorry, another spoiler--Martowski had so much charisma as Frankie she required TWO love interests, Jo (Lisa Naso) and Phoenix (Julian Schenker), and her differentiation of how she expresses her love for each comes off so natural for a young woman learning about herself. Her misgivings about being a transracial adoptee isn’t something explored normally, even though a common topic for the few minority writers adopted by white parents. The explosive comments and accusations hurled at her mother’s seemingly apathetic feelings towards having a child of a different race are even more impactful when Mary Jane reveals cruel comments made to her about Frankie “being pretty for a black girl.”

James O’Connor as husband and father Steve Healy is often the comic foil in the musical which is quite an accomplishment to make in such a dark story. In the muted scene where Steve finds his unresponsive wife with their son, O’Connor’s devastation is so profound you can see the pain and desolation from a full back sight-line. In “Not the Doctor,” O’Connor’s steady and urgent voice shone to make the humble phrases take on the deeper meaning they were intended to have on the surface.  

Michael Krulder as Nick Healy, the overachieving and overrun future ivy-leaguer son of Mary Jane and Frank, carried an expression of anxious doom that turns into sullen and tortured after the party where he actually lets himself relax. In his solo in “Perfect” Krulder’s dreamy, Disney-prince voice depicts the creeping tarnish of a golden child’s crown. When his conscience torments him after being a bystander in a terrible situation and he comes to Mary Jane, Krulder’s crest-fallen visage and almost violent grasping of his face as he struggles to process the contradictions of his mother is a masterclass in acting.

Courtney O’Shea as Bella went through the fire to do justice to the character arc. When we meet her, Bella is bubbly and full of authentic albeit naïve connection to her classmates. When she sits on a couch recalling the sexual assault she endured, O’Shea’s delivery of the line “I don’t think he even used a condom” is quiet and breaking, but hints at the courage she eventually has to bring her perpetrator to justice. In “No,” O’Shea’s booming voice contrasts with the quiet, de-clawed young woman she was forced to be. With the drums in the music, O’Shea came back to the stage as a type of Highlander warrior woman.

Lisa Naso as Jo, Frankie’s (sort of) partner, had such star power in every scene they were in, you couldn’t take your eyes off them. Naso’s dancing skill in “You Oughtta Know” was straight out of Washington Square park in 1993 with the sharp pops and locks that seemed like they displaced her joints. Vocally, Naso’s pointed and sparkling singing gave a new dimension to the Alanis Morissette favorites we all had.