Jagged Little Pill’s Big Musical Cocktail

With Jagged Little Pill on stage in Melbourne, confirmed for Perth in May, and a return season in Sydne in July,  Maggie McKenna and Tim Draxl tell David Spicer why they relish being cast in a musical of our times.

Described as the most ambitious jukebox musical ever, Jagged Little Pill is a family drama traversing drug addiction, rape, sexual identity, relationship stress and more – set to the pulsing music of Alanis Morissette’s seminal 1995 album.

Opening with the central character - Mary Jane (Natalie Bassingthwaighte) – writing the family’s cheery annual Christmas letter, all appears to be in order in the upper middle-class family. Husband Steve has had a job promotion, daughter Frankie is a promising artist, and son Nick has received early admission to Harvard. Mary Jane is recovering from car accident injuries, which she writes are being managed with natural remedies.

Cracks in this vision of middle-class order appear almost immediately. Whilst Mary Jane is reading the letter, her daughter is upstairs making out with Jo, played by Maggie McKenna.

“It is not The Sound of Music. It is exciting, fresh and raw and very cool,” Maggie McKenna told me. “When I saw it on Broadway, I was so blown away by how many topics it covers and how powerful and how impactful it is. I knew I had to be part of it in some way.”

Tim Draxl plays the father Steve, whose character is addicted to pornography. Goodness, how do they show that on stage?

“It is spoken about at a therapy session,” Tim tells me, without blushing as far as I can tell. “Stephen and his wife MJ have a problematic marriage. You can see there is tension there and there is no physical relationship. She is keeping tabs on him and his pornography. More importantly, he is a workaholic.”

Tim described the contemporary story as powerful and interesting.

“I have loved musical theatre all my life. But at the end of the day a lot of musical theatre shows in different eras have the same storyline. The boy meets girl, or the boy loses girl. The stories are a little thin. But Jagged Little Pill holds a mirror to our society.

“The story is set, for all intents and purposes, in 2021. It is not about Alanis Morissette but does feature every song from the album. This project was seven years in the making. She was adamant that it not be about her life.”

Maggie McKenna said, “The original album dealt with so many of these dark topics when it was released, and it was so raw and ground-breaking in what Alanis did, so that when they came to write a story separate to her life, it had to be dark and touch people because the album did.

“A big part of the show is an assault which happens to a young girl; how the community deals with it. I think we need a story like this to show the implications of what sexual assault does to a community; it affects everybody not just the victim.”

Maggie said the musical is informed by debate arising out of the #MeToo movement, but is not about harassment in the workplace.

“It is a story of a small town where one person is assaulted publicly. It is important for audiences in wake of #MeToo to see what untold stories there are. (In this case) what happens to young people at parties.

“So many people I know have their own stories. It is an epidemic. It has always been around.

“It is hard for people to come forward. Trauma takes time. Sometimes people are not ready to come forward. That’s why it is important for people see their own stories told on stage.”

Maggie is keen to point out that there are moments of fun amidst the intense drama.

“Yes, we are dealing with dark topics, but there is always humour where there is darkness. I think this show has an amazing balance of both.”

In one scene, Maggie’s character has to go on a family trip to church.

“It is quite traumatic when the priest tells them they can pray away the gays. It is funny, but it’s always dark.”

The music of Alanis Morisette is known for its heartache, angst and guttural qualities.

Maggie’s character gets to sing Morisette’s best known hit song, “You Oughta Know”.

And I'm here, to remind you
Of the mess you left when you went away
It's not fair, to deny me
Of the cross I bear that you gave to me
You, you, you oughta know.

It was written by the artist after a messy breakup with her boyfriend.

Maggie agreed that singing this song is a highlight, like singing “Music of the Night” in The Phantom of the Opera.

“There was a standing ovation (in New York). I know Australian audiences don’t stand up as much, but it is such a cathartic moment for everyone.”

Without giving too much away about the story, the song is also used in the context of heartbreak.

Tim Draxl is impressed at what he describes as the ingenious way the songs are used in the story.

“It actually feels like the music was written for the show. One of the reasons they chose the album to make a show, is because each song tells its own story,” Tim said.

And as a result, there are lots of issues raised during the musical.

“Jagged Little Pill holds up a mirror to see if people can be a little more open minded,” Tim continued.

Amongst the hot bed of topics are gender diversity, sexual orientation and racism.

“A lot of racism is embedded in white privileged society. Sometimes people don’t realise they are being racist,” Tim said.

Thrown into the mix is drug addiction, which is manifested in the central character MJ’s dependence on pain killers. Tim describes it as an “entry level addiction, something a bit more relatable than hard core street drugs.”

The chaos behind the scenes contrasts with the family’s efforts to present a 1950’s model of family perfection to the world.

“It is the story of a family coming to terms with their demons. They are struggling but what keeps them together is that they love each other.”

Adding to the tension is the creative way the ensemble members are utilised in the musical.

“They are the characters’ conscience, as in Greek theatre. Sometimes the (chorus) morphs in and out of characters to manipulate us. They are our inner monologue. It is so beautifully constructed.”

Tim also relishes the approach to singing and choreography in the piece.

“It’s not all about getting the steps right and singing the song perfectly, it is about intention, which is such a refreshing way to come at it.”

His moment of light comedy comes during the song “Not the Doctor” at a therapy session, when MJ and Steve attempt to self-diagnose.

Tim is excited about his two solos because “I love a good ballad.”

One of the songs, “So Unsexy”, might be seen as ironic, delivered by an actor who is not shy about displaying his sculptured torso on Instagram.

I can feel so unsexy for someone so beautiful
So unloved and for someone so fine
I can feel so boring for someone so interesting
So ignorant for someone of sound mind

“It is not Steve saying he is unsexy - it is more that his relationship with his wife makes him feel unsexy, because they do not have an intimate relationship,” explains Tim. “As much as he tries to light the flame again, she is pushing him away.”

Both actors are delighted to be back on stage and at a theatre which (as of mid-November) is allowed to have 100 percent capacity.

Jagged Little Pill continues the purple patch for Maggie McKenna, who has scored brilliant roles since graduating from university in the United States, and all in contemporary musicals.

Plucked from nowhere, Maggie originated the lead role in Muriel’s Wedding the Musical.

“I had just finished drama school, had no idea what I was going to do and booked this workshop,” said Maggie. “It was insane to be able to develop a piece from the ground up. I got to sing new songs and be the first person to publicly perform them. Everything about that process was just magical.

“Then I got to tour Dear Evan Hansen (in the regional United States) – also a dark story - to 25 cities. Meeting all those fans was just epic. It was such a wild crazy time.

“Then Fun Home (with the Sydney Theatre Company) was staged just before lockdown – that timing was perfect.”

During Covid downtime, Maggie has been writing and workshopping an original musical, and admits that having Kath and Kim co-creator Gina Riley as a parent means there is a good genetic pool to draw upon.

What is Maggie’s musical about? No comment just yet, but it is safe to assume the subject matter is contemporary.

Tim Draxl has not been so lucky with the timing of the pandemic. He snuck in shooting for the ABC mini-series The Newsreader, but sadly his two shots at appearing at the Director in the musical A Chorus Line were cruelled by the different waves of the coronavirus.

To get over his disappointments, Tim is drawing on the ultimate positive message of the musical which he describes “as accepting what is happening in life and learning and improving from it.”

You live, you learn
You love, you learn
You cry, you learn
You lose, you learn
You bleed, you learn
You scream, you learn

Australian production images. Photographer: Daniel Boud