Ever since Alanis Morissette’s blistering song “You Oughta Know” from Jagged Little Pill first hit the airwaves in 1995, music has never been the same. Now, the American Repertory Theater is gearing up to expand the scope of the iconic album with a world premiere musical adaptation, directed by Diane Paulus and with the book written by Academy Award-winning writer Diablo Cody. We chatted with Cody about what you oughta know before the musical’s premiere on May 5 at the Loeb Drama Center.
What made you want to write a musical based on the album? The producers actually came to me with the idea. And so I’m very lucky in this regard because usually musicals languish in development hell for years. In my case, I had the producers come to me. They said, “Diane Paulus is attached to direct this,” which was thrilling to me because she’s the best. And when I heard a Jagged Little Pill musical—you know, it had never really occurred to me to write a musical before. I mean, I’ve never even worked in theater until now—at all. [Laughs.] So it was a terrifying idea, but I was like, “I’m willing to step out of my comfort zone for Alanis because I’m that big of a fan.” And it just sounded like it would be fun. And it was.
Was there a plot already fleshed out? Not at all. No. That was the scary part. … So I just listened to the album a lot, and I realized that even though Alanis has never explicitly called it a concept album, it felt like a concept album to me because so many of the songs are about this specific theme of living your life in denial and then opening your eyes, allowing yourself to experience the pain of acknowledging reality and then being better for it. It really is an album about making yourself uncomfortable and ultimately evolving because of that. That is the jagged little pill, so to speak.
Is there one song that you were really excited to work on? Oh yeah, “Ironic.” I was so excited to tackle that song because people have debated the lyrics for years, and they’ve busted Alanis’ chops about how it’s not really irony. And the song itself just has such vivid lyrics that I remember that was the first one I tackled because I was like, “This is going to be a challenge, but this is also going to be a blast.”
What kind of new material is in the show? New songs? There’s new music, yes. I’m pretty sure I’m allowed to say that. And it’s really something else.
Is there a message you hope people will take away from the show? Yeah. I think it’s tempting in these troubled times to just try and numb yourself and escape from reality. And this show is about facing your problems. It’s about self-acceptance. It’s about not leading your life in denial, and I need to take that advice as well. [Laughs.] Writing is like therapy for me. …There’s a song on the album called “Wake Up.” To me that sums it all up. Wake up, look around, acknowledge.
How involved was Alanis when you were writing the book? She was involved from the beginning and has been the most incredible fairy godmother. Tom Kitt, who’s the musical director, and I were fortunate enough to go to her home in Malibu for a few days and work with her, which was incredible. So eye-opening. And it improved the script to such a dramatic degree because we had her guidance and were able to really talk to her about what she was feeling when she wrote these songs. She was 19 when she wrote the album with Glen Ballard. A lot of time has passed, and her perspective has changed. And the new material that she wrote for the show is so unbelievable. I mean, for me as a fan to get to sit with her and listen to that music with her was just amazing. And she’s also just, like, so accessible. Anytime I need help, she’s there. I was so nervous about having to potentially rewrite some of her lyrics to fit the show, and she’s been so incredibly cool about, and I’ve been very lucky.
Did you find that a plot arose from the songs, or did you come up with the plot and weave the songs into it? What made my job so fun is that the cool thing about Alanis’ music is that it is narrative in a lot of ways. You know, she tells stories in those songs. If you listen to “Mary Jane,” that’s a story. “Head Over Feet” is a story. I don’t envy the people who write a lot of other Broadway books of this type because—and I’m not gonna call out specific artists—there are some artists that I think it would be difficult to write a show around their music. Because the songs aren’t really saying anything. So what you’re really doing is just shoehorning the hits into a script. And in this case, it was the exact opposite, where I could listen to a song like “Mary Jane” and go, ‘Oh my god, I know who this woman is.’ And this is a character in the show. Or I could listen to a song like “All I Really Want” and be like, ‘Oh, that’s our “I want number,”’ which is a staple of musical theater. So I felt very blessed to have that material to work off of.
Do you remember the first time you heard one of the songs from the Jagged Little Pill album? I have a very vivid memory of being in my bedroom when I was a teenager and I was listening to Q101, which was the alternative station in Chicago, and I remember the DJ—normally they just play the music they don’t editorialize. And the DJ was like, “I’m about to play something that’s gonna blow everybody’s mind.” And I remember sitting there listening to [“You Oughta Know”] going, “Damn!” I mean, I think everyone remembers the moment that song exploded because it was just so raw and so exciting. And her voice is just such a distinctive instrument.
THE IMPROPER’S 2018 SPRING ARTS PREVIEW: DANCE | MOVIES | COMEDY | MUSIC | PODCASTS | VISUAL ART
Hit Plays
Grab a seat for these must-see productions this spring
By Nathan Tavares March 9, 2018
Q&A with Diablo Cody
Ever since Alanis Morissette’s blistering song “You Oughta Know” from Jagged Little Pill first hit the airwaves in 1995, music has never been the same. Now, the American Repertory Theater is gearing up to expand the scope of the iconic album with a world premiere musical adaptation, directed by Diane Paulus and with the book written by Academy Award-winning writer Diablo Cody. We chatted with Cody about what you oughta know before the musical’s premiere on May 5 at the Loeb Drama Center.
What made you want to write a musical based on the album? The producers actually came to me with the idea. And so I’m very lucky in this regard because usually musicals languish in development hell for years. In my case, I had the producers come to me. They said, “Diane Paulus is attached to direct this,” which was thrilling to me because she’s the best. And when I heard a Jagged Little Pill musical—you know, it had never really occurred to me to write a musical before. I mean, I’ve never even worked in theater until now—at all. [Laughs.] So it was a terrifying idea, but I was like, “I’m willing to step out of my comfort zone for Alanis because I’m that big of a fan.” And it just sounded like it would be fun. And it was.
Was there a plot already fleshed out? Not at all. No. That was the scary part. … So I just listened to the album a lot, and I realized that even though Alanis has never explicitly called it a concept album, it felt like a concept album to me because so many of the songs are about this specific theme of living your life in denial and then opening your eyes, allowing yourself to experience the pain of acknowledging reality and then being better for it. It really is an album about making yourself uncomfortable and ultimately evolving because of that. That is the jagged little pill, so to speak.
Is there one song that you were really excited to work on? Oh yeah, “Ironic.” I was so excited to tackle that song because people have debated the lyrics for years, and they’ve busted Alanis’ chops about how it’s not really irony. And the song itself just has such vivid lyrics that I remember that was the first one I tackled because I was like, “This is going to be a challenge, but this is also going to be a blast.”
What kind of new material is in the show? New songs? There’s new music, yes. I’m pretty sure I’m allowed to say that. And it’s really something else.
Is there a message you hope people will take away from the show? Yeah. I think it’s tempting in these troubled times to just try and numb yourself and escape from reality. And this show is about facing your problems. It’s about self-acceptance. It’s about not leading your life in denial, and I need to take that advice as well. [Laughs.] Writing is like therapy for me. …There’s a song on the album called “Wake Up.” To me that sums it all up. Wake up, look around, acknowledge.
How involved was Alanis when you were writing the book? She was involved from the beginning and has been the most incredible fairy godmother. Tom Kitt, who’s the musical director, and I were fortunate enough to go to her home in Malibu for a few days and work with her, which was incredible. So eye-opening. And it improved the script to such a dramatic degree because we had her guidance and were able to really talk to her about what she was feeling when she wrote these songs. She was 19 when she wrote the album with Glen Ballard. A lot of time has passed, and her perspective has changed. And the new material that she wrote for the show is so unbelievable. I mean, for me as a fan to get to sit with her and listen to that music with her was just amazing. And she’s also just, like, so accessible. Anytime I need help, she’s there. I was so nervous about having to potentially rewrite some of her lyrics to fit the show, and she’s been so incredibly cool about, and I’ve been very lucky.
Did you find that a plot arose from the songs, or did you come up with the plot and weave the songs into it? What made my job so fun is that the cool thing about Alanis’ music is that it is narrative in a lot of ways. You know, she tells stories in those songs. If you listen to “Mary Jane,” that’s a story. “Head Over Feet” is a story. I don’t envy the people who write a lot of other Broadway books of this type because—and I’m not gonna call out specific artists—there are some artists that I think it would be difficult to write a show around their music. Because the songs aren’t really saying anything. So what you’re really doing is just shoehorning the hits into a script. And in this case, it was the exact opposite, where I could listen to a song like “Mary Jane” and go, ‘Oh my god, I know who this woman is.’ And this is a character in the show. Or I could listen to a song like “All I Really Want” and be like, ‘Oh, that’s our “I want number,”’ which is a staple of musical theater. So I felt very blessed to have that material to work off of.
Do you remember the first time you heard one of the songs from the Jagged Little Pill album? I have a very vivid memory of being in my bedroom when I was a teenager and I was listening to Q101, which was the alternative station in Chicago, and I remember the DJ—normally they just play the music they don’t editorialize. And the DJ was like, “I’m about to play something that’s gonna blow everybody’s mind.” And I remember sitting there listening to [“You Oughta Know”] going, “Damn!” I mean, I think everyone remembers the moment that song exploded because it was just so raw and so exciting. And her voice is just such a distinctive instrument.
THE IMPROPER’S 2018 SPRING ARTS PREVIEW: DANCE | MOVIES | COMEDY | MUSIC | PODCASTS | VISUAL ART
By Nathan Tavares
Curtain Calls
Here’s a sneak peek of eight must-see productions this spring, with excerpts chosen by writers and directors.
Photo Credit: Liza Voll
James Darrah directs Boston Lyric Opera’s production of The Threepenny Opera, running March 16-25 at the Huntington Avenue Theatre. The satire is set in the slums of Victorian London and explores the corruption of capitalism after an infamous criminal nicknamed “Mack the Knife” secretly marries Polly Peachum, the daughter of the leader of London’s beggars.
Polly: “But one night you’ll hear ’em all yellin’ down by the harbor. And you’ll ask, ‘Do they have to yell that way?’ And you’ll see me smile and rinse another glass out and you’ll ask, ‘What’s made her smile today?’ And a 50-gun galleon with its eight sails a-waving slips into the bay.”
Director Scott Edmiston helms the production of Anna Christie, a drama about a daughter who reunites with her coal barge captain father and then falls for a shipwrecked sailor. The Eugene O’Neill classic drops anchor at the Lyric Stage Company on April 6-May 6.
Anna: “You can go to hell, both of you! You’re just like all the rest of them. God, you’d think I was a piece of furniture. Sit down and let me talk for a minute. You might as well get cured this way as any other. First thing is, I want to tell you both something. You was going on as if one of you had got to own me. But nobody owns me—excepting myself.”
Artwork: Sandra Cohen
Actors’ Shakespeare Project tackles romance and marriage in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Christopher V. Edwards. Playing April 11-May 6 at the Multicultural Arts Center, the comedy stars sworn bachelor Benedick and the witty Beatrice who are tricked into smoothing over their rocky romantic past.
Benedick: “That a woman conceived me, I thank her; that she brought me up, I likewise give her most humble thanks; but that I will have a recheat winded in my forehead, or hang my bugle in an invisible baldrick, all women shall pardon me. Because I will not do them the wrong to mistrust any, I will do myself the right to trust none; and the fine is, for the which I may go the finer, I will live a bachelor.”
In collaboration with MIT, the Nora Theatre Company presents the world premiere of The Women Who Mapped the Stars by Boston playwright Joyce Van Dyke. Directed by Jessica Ernst, the play transports audiences to Harvard in the late 1800s, when five women ushered in major advances in astronomy but were paid half as much as their male co-workers. Get star-struck when the show runs April 19-May 20 at the Central Square Theater.
Antonia: “What if someone is being born right now, in the new century—a girl is born—and these things are not a dream for her—this will simply be life! Life as she lives it!”
Annie: “Growing up to become an astronomer—because she wants it…”
Tackling the unexpected humor in sperm donation and the challenges of being the husband of a gestational surrogate, 2 Sharp Quills presents Boston playwright Judith Strang-Waldau’s Rockabye at the Mosesian Center for the Arts on May 18-19. The dramatic comedy examines both sides of the surrogacy process and explores the yearning of LGBTQ couples to become parents.
Karim: “My community turned its back on me when I finally told them I’m gay. For years I felt totally alone in the world. But Annie, I no longer have to hide. Luis and I fell in love. He was my first love and he will be my last. We want to share what we have with a child.”
After snagging a Tony Award nomination in 2017 for her work directing Eclipsed on Broadway (which featured Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o among the stellar cast), Liesl Tommy returns to the Huntington Theatre Company to direct Top Girls on April 20-May 20 at Huntington Avenue Theatre. Set in 1980s London during a dinner party with famous historical women as guests, the play explores what it takes for women to rise to the top of a male-dominated world.
Marlene: “Oh Joan, thank God, we can order. Do you know everyone? We were just talking about learning Latin and being clever girls. Joan way by way of an infant prodigy. Of course you were. What excited you when you were 10?”
Joan: “Because angels are without matter they are not individuals. Every angel is a species.”
Marlene: “There you are.”
Take it to the runway when Company One presents the drag-tacular Wig Out! at Oberon on April 27-May 13. Penned by Tarell Alvin McCraney, who co-wrote the 2016 Oscar winner Moonlight, this play whisks the audience to the early 2000s to experience the vibrant black drag ball culture in a catwalk showdown between two rivaling drag houses.
Rey-Rey: “You tell Serena, mother of the house of Di’abolique, that we understand the terms of a Cinderella soirée and we will be there ready to walk and win all that is ours. I hope your mucked up melancholy face beams previews of our presence ’cause bitch after we come thru gone be some blind and dazzled punks left in the wake. So says the mother of the house of Light. Now run tell that!”
120,000 Japanese Americans who were forcibly relocated to internment camps throughout the country after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Allegiance, a musical based on the experience of actor George Takei, explores a family’s experience in a bleak camp in rural Wyoming. SpeakEasy Stage mounts performances on May 4-June 2 at the BCA’s Calderwood Pavilion.
THE IMPROPER’S 2018 SPRING ARTS PREVIEW: DANCE | MOVIES | COMEDY | MUSIC | PODCASTS | VISUAL ART
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