Beware that seemingly perfect little Christmas card and newsletter in the mail.  There is often so much more to the story.

One musician with a gift for reading between the lines is Grammy award-winning alternative rock singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette who teams up with like minded Academy and Tony award-winning writer Diablo Cody for Jagged Little Pill the Musical in which Cody went on to win a Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical.

Don’t expect to see an Alanis autobiography in Jagged Little Pill, but this ruminating musical rather integrates themes from her songs into a cautionary tale about a family rife with secrets and resentment unavoidably brimming to the surface.

Under Zoe Bradford and Sally Ashton Forrest’s keen co-direction, Jasmine Dillon’s pulsating and interconnected choreography as well as Robert McDonough’s agile music direction, Company Theatre continues their 46^th season with Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill the Musical live and in person through Sunday, August 16 at The Company Theatre in Norwell, Massachusetts.  It runs approximately two hours and 40 minutes with one intermission and has some mature themes.  Click here for more information, for tickets and here for more information on how you can support the Company Theatre’s Project Stage Restoration.

With music by Alanis Morissette and Glen Ballard, an intimate eight piece orchestra delivers synthetic ballads and searing rhythms led by music director Robert McDonough. The setting is as lively and urgent as the musical’s pacing.  Dean Palmer Jr. rhapsodically illuminates Ryan Barrow’s rolling and fold out house-inspired set while projection designer Jack Gruman artistically brings to life a gritty, skewed and occasionally kaleidoscopic view of a Connecticut suburb.  Gruman enhances a variety of locations including a coffee house, office space, a tumultuous storm window, an array of family photos and fireworks. 

Jagged Little Pill is an intriguing exploration that addresses something that runs rampant in our society.  It is the desire and pressure to be perfect or at least looking that way to others.  The idea did not originate with social media, but it has intensified that desire often to a crippling degree. 

Mary Jane Healy, richly depicted by Dana Sullivan, hides those imperfections in a smug holiday letter alongside the Healy Christmas card, but not ironically, the façade quickly fades in getting to know her seemingly successful family over a one year period. ‘The truth is too hard,’ MJ reflects.

Many of the ensemble cast members demonstrate a modern Greek chorus observing and occasionally contributing to the plot skillfully taking on multiple roles or acting as the musical’s conscience.  Some of their messages are unmistakable while others are left to interpretation.   Though the musical is set in present day, it boasts a bit of a 90s flair.  From The Who to Talking Heads to AC/DC to Green Day, Kiera O’Connor sets the musical’s edgy tone dressing the young cast in rock-n roll-inspired 90s grunge costumes including black starred stockings, tied flannel shirts and converse sneakers while the adults are adorned in classic and casual chic attire.

Jagged Little Pill dials into a number of social issues including addictions, isolation, coming of age, LGBTQ, rape, marital strife and more while exploring significant and complex relationships. Sullivan brings savvy and intensity to Mary Jane who is easier to grow frustrated with than a source of sympathy, but Sullivan manages to accomplish both as the plot thickens.  Her exceptional expectations are rooted in trauma, exposing her vulnerability in a stirring version of Smiling and later in a chilling rendition of Uninvited boosted by Claudia McMahon as a spiraling lead dancer among other roles.  Bobby Atkinson skillfully depicts Mary Jane’s son, Nick Healy, making it easy to feel the gravity, mounting pressure and clashing intentions with Sullivan’s Mary Jane. 

 Nikita DeRosa as Frankie Healy and Emma Keane as Jo Taylor are both powerful vocalists delivering a playful duet of Hand in My Pocket.  With tenacity and soaring vocals, Nikita DaRosa as Frankie has no interest in being perfect, but rather longing to be heard.  A passionate activist who was adopted by the Healy family, DaRosa’s Frankie candidly contributes to her family’s reflections in a curt and frank rendition of All I Really Want and an affecting rendition of That I Would be Good with Emma Keane as Jo Taylor and Charlie Solari as mysterious Phoenix.  

Though a few of Morissette’s tunes lose some of its bite in musical translation, Morissette’s You Oughta Know never loses its ferocity, especially within Emma Keane’s steely and stellar rendition.

Though Jagged Little Pill tackles its share of somber topics, it also boasts lighthearted humor in an unexpected version of Ironic, an effervescent So Pure and a sweet and mellifluous duet of Head Over Feet. 

As a massive Alanis Morissette fan dating back when she was a child actor in Canada, Morissette has been open about her battles with anxiety and depression.  Her struggles infuse a unique depth into her resonating rock anthems which expose hidden truths that can make you angry, bring you to tears or both.  Though I do not have the anger I did when I first heard Morissette’s music, she still presents emerging and ongoing reasons to be frustrated with the world.  Some of the musical’s messages can be a little heavy handed because it tackles so much, but her hopeful takeaway always ring true. Be bold, authentic and speak up for what is right even if it is uncomfortable or less than perfect.

The Company Theatre continues their 46^th season with Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill the Musical live and in person through Sunday, August 16 at the Company Theatre in Norwell, Massachusetts.  Click here for more information, for tickets and here for more information on how you can support the Company Theatre’s Project Stage Restoration.