"Jagged Little Pill" - by Alanis Morissette - Arlington Friends of the Drama/AFD Theatre (Arlington, MA.) - REVIEW
(Cover Photo: Leyah Eggleston as “Frankie Healy” and Sarah Koury as “Jo” with members of the CAST of Alanis Morissette's "JAGGED LITTLE PILL: THE MUSICAL" now playing at AFD Theatre in Arlington, MA. through October 4, 2026. Photo Credit: Leslie Maiocca)
By Kevin T. Baldwin
METRMAG Reviewer
# 774-242-6724
“You live, you learn, you clench, you burn, you keep, you turn, you sleep, you die, you bleed, you cry, you go on anyway."
- ("Company") / Alanis Morissette
Arlington Friends of the Drama/AFD Theatre
Presents Alanis Morissette's
"JAGGED LITTLE PILL: THE MUSICAL"
Lyrics by Alanis Morissette
Music by Alanis Morissette & Glen Ballard
Book by Diablo Cody
Directed by Rhiannon Jenkins
Music Director Kathryn Denney
Choreographer Jill Tokac
Cast Includes: Sara Delong as “Mary Jane Healy,” Leyah Eggleston as “Frankie Healy,” Brad Puffer as “Steve Healy,” Vance Raiti as “Nick Healy,” Kathryn Day as “Bella,” Sarah Koury as “Jo,” Link Bowen as “Phoenix,” Joel Godett as “Andrew.” Ensemble - Betsy Flowers, Abby Murphy, Katie Gebbia, Daniel Golden, Hubert Hwang, Anika Rabenhorst, Anna Jean Simmons, Joie Steele, Shawn Thomas, Christa Washburn.
Additional Creative Team:
Production Managers - Jo Wellins, Cayd Barrera; Stage Manager - Brian Adler; Assistant Stage Managers - Sam Aluia, Jenna Hebert; Set and Projection Design - Doug Feinburg; Assistant Projection Design - Mike Rainey; Set Tech - Charlie Carr; Set Crew - Luci Alpert, Charlie Carr, Doug Feinburg, Jacob Gendelman, Tom Lemere, Shayna Loeffler, Suzi Lubar, Leaf Persson, Mike Rainey, Ken Theriault, David Warnock, Jo Wellins; Costume Design - Lucinda Davis, Jackie Kern; Hair & Make-up - Jeanne Callinan; Lighting Designer - Rich Greaves; Lighting Assistants - Vyren Gray, David Silber; Sound Design - Christopher Cebelenski; Sound Assistant - Colleen Long; Props Manager - Helane Blinn; Props Assistant - Aimee Derrah; Intimacy Designer - Emma Neary.
Performances:
September 19, 2026 through October 4, 2026
(Contact Box Office for Exact Times)
AFD THEATRE, 22 Academy Street, Arlington, MA. 02476
TICKETS:
For more information or tickets, contact AFD THEATRE at www.afdtheatre.org/buy-tickets or by calling the box office at # 781-646-5922 or emailing boxoffice@afdtheatre.org.
BUY TICKETS
COVID 19 PROTOCOLS
Contact Venue for Most Updated COVID-19 Safety Protocols and Information.
(Warning: The following review contains spoilers)
Kicking off their 2026-2027 season in a big way, Arlington Friends of Drama (AFD Theatre) drops a "JAGGED LITTLE PILL" into Arlington…and it is quite a musical trip, indeed.
The AFD Theatre production is visually alluring thanks not only to its fine principal cast but the impressive ensemble that executes choreography central in helping to propel the story forward.
The jukebox musical "JAGGED LITTLE PILL" features music by Alanis Morissette and Glen Ballard, lyrics by Morissette, a book by Diablo Cody, with additional music by Michael Farrell and Guy Sigsworth.
"JAGGED LITTLE PILL" is inspired by Morissette's 1995 album and deals with pain, healing, and empowerment.
Overhearing several audience members commenting at intermission during the AFD opening night performance, I feel it should be noted that "intent" plays a critical part in determining if one is to truly going to enjoy this musical.
A fan coming to see the musical solely to hear Morissette’s songs might walk away disillusioned because they already have preconceived music videos playing in their head for every single tune.
Someone less familiar but still coming to see the musical for Morissette’s songs might walk away liking the songs and maybe even their execution but not necessarily the story.
Conversely, someone liking the story may not feel Morissette’s tunes successfully helped propel or even coincide with it.
So, in my opinion, the folks that benefit best from seeing this show are the ones with absolutely no preconception whatsoever.
Certainly, "JAGGED LITTLE PILL" is a musical that will not appeal to everyone - the score is very "90's" and the subject matter can certainly get dark and "over angsty," at times.
Broadway has always had a fascination with wanting to show us the complete and utter meltdown of the American nuclear family, to the point where it has now become a trope or genre unto itself.
But while there will be comparisons to another angst-ridden suburban family musical (yes, I'm looking at you "Next to Normal"), outside of dealing with internal family struggles, the story and subplots in "PILL" could not be more different.
All the above aside, I do very much enjoy this musical and thoroughly enjoyed the AFD approach taken.
(Photo: The Healy Family - Leyah Eggleston as “Frankie,” Sara Delong as “Mary Jane,” Brad Puffer as “Steve” and Vance Raiti as “Nick” in a scene from Alanis Morissette's "JAGGED LITTLE PILL: THE MUSICAL" now playing at AFD Theatre in Arlington, MA. through October 4, 2026. Photo Credit: Leslie Maiocca)
In 2013, "JAGGED LITTLE PILL" co-composer and lyricist Alanis Morissette and librettist Diablo Cody began working on the musical adaptation of the Morissette album "JAGGED LITTLE PILL" with composer Tom Kitt attached to pen new arrangements and orchestrations for the original story concept.
A reading took place in 2017, with Idina Menzel as lead character "Mary Jane."
The first public performance of songs from the show took place in 2018 at the American Repertory Theater Gala and later that same year the musical would receive its world premiere.
"JAGGED LITTLE PILL" premiered at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2018, directed by Diane Paulus with ingeniously intricate staging of the musical catalog of Morissette.
The show began previews on Broadway in 2019 but closed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The musical briefly re-opened in 2021, running from November until December.
Although the original "plagued" production was beset by delays and closures, it still managed to receive 15 nominations for the 74th Tony Awards, winning two of them (to Cody Diablo for Best Book of a Musical and to Lauren Patten for Featured Actress in a Musical).
The musical also would go on to win a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.
The AFD Theatre production of "JAGGED LITTLE PILL" has been expertly staged by director Rhiannon Jenkins featuring music direction by Kathryn Denney (who also conducts the powerful AFD orchestra) and some imaginative choreography by Jill Tokac.
"JAGGED LITTLE PILL" tells the story of how the lives of the "Healys," a seemingly perfect white Connecticut family with an adopted Black daughter, collapse when faced with issues of repressed gender identity, sexual assault and substance abuse.
One of the smartest approaches taken by AFD director Jenkins and choreographer Tokac was to not try and reproduce the Broadway show and subsequent touring productions which incorporated massive sets and big budget high tech wizardry.
Instead, while incorporating their own highly resourceful technical rear and side projections, the AFD Theatre space is cleverly utilized by a modular approach whereby rehearsal cubes are formed to represent various locations in multiple scenes.
In addition to magnificently executing Tokac’s passionately innovative choreography, the cast and ensemble perform most if not all of the scene changes required, allowing for a completely fluid redress each time.
Supplementing songs from the show's namesake album, the AFD musical also features many familiar tunes from the Morissette catalog, including "Thank U," "That I Would Be Good," “You Learn,” "So Unsexy" and the breathtaking "Uninvited" from the soundtrack of the 1998 film "City of Angels."
(Photo: Vance Raiti as “Nick Healy” with Kathryn Day as “Bella” in a moment from Alanis Morissette's "JAGGED LITTLE PILL: THE MUSICAL" now playing at AFD Theatre in Arlington, MA. through October 4, 2026. Photo Credit: Leslie Maiocca)
As the musical begins, Mary Jane (aka "MJ" played by Sara DeLong), the mother of the Healy clan, is on her laptop, composing her annual Christmas holiday "family letter" - that one thing outside of fruitcake nobody ever wants around the holidays.
In a multi-layered performance, DeLong show us how MJ tries to be the emotional anchor of the family yet, her own frail fabrication of “suburban perfection” is beset by the heavy toll of a suppressed memory of trauma.
Therefore, Mary Jane’s manic obsession with maintaining an “Instagram-ready” family hides an inner turmoil soothed only by self-medication.
Healy patriarch Steve (Brad Puffer) appears to be addicted to both work and online pornography.
Yet, in a skilled rendering by Puffer, it is later revealed Steve does so because MJ has distanced herself from him emotionally...and physically...due to an accident which has left her addicted to painkillers.
It is Steve’s emotional unavailability and workaholism which reveals the cracks behind the family's picture-perfect façade.
The relationship between the two characters is strained and impacts on their family relationships, which includes that with their son, Nick (Vance Raiti) and their adopted daughter, Frankie (Leyah Eggleston).
Both children are experiencing identity crises to which both parents appear to be oblivious.
Straight, strait laced and straight "A" high school senior Nick isn't sure about the road he wants to take after graduation.
Raiti gives a fine, sensitive portrayal of Nick, whose mother is focused on him maintaining the embodiment of suburban privilege, adding to the already toxic, crushing pressure of his "Golden Boy” image.
Concurrently, 16-year-old Frankie is becoming politically active in school.
Eggleston is totally captivating as the “transracial adoptee” coping in a predominantly white community, as Frankie exists in her own distinctive identity crisis.
Frankie protests racial and gender bias, racial and gender suppression, and other evil white patriarchal matters - all while exploring her own sexuality with her best friend, Jo (Sarah Koury) and new boyfriend, Phoenix (Link Bowen).
Bowen gives a nice, understated performance as Frankie's amiable love interest, Phoenix.
By the way, at the outset, none of the above goes in the letter, of course.
Instead, much of this gets "airbrushed" out of MJ's "family letter," taking a back seat to the news Nick has been accepted to Harvard.
(Photo: Leyah Eggleston as “Frankie Healy” and Sarah Koury as “Jo” with members of the CAST of Alanis Morissette's "JAGGED LITTLE PILL: THE MUSICAL" now playing at AFD Theatre in Arlington, MA. through October 4, 2026. Photo Credit: Leslie Maiocca)
One AFD musical highlight among many is the song "Hand in My Pocket" sung as a duet between the impressive Eggleston and Koury.
In the story and to her credit, Morissette occasionally acquiesces to some self-deprecating humor, such as the multiple jabs taken at her (ironically unironic) song "Ironic" (read in class as a "poem-story-kind'a thing" written by Frankie).
Elevating it from the jukebox genre, Morissette also wrote two new songs for the musical:
"Smiling" brilliantly performed by DeLong and "Predator" highlighting MJ’s conflicting dependencies (i.e. - perfection and opioids); and the emotionally gut-wrenching "Predator" from a subplot involving the rape of fellow student Bella (Kathryn Day) at a party attended by Frankie, Nick and Phoenix.
When events become a "he said/she said" it impacts everyone but especially MJ - for reasons which become clearer as the story progresses.
DeLong, Eggleston and Koury are a trio of vocal dynamos in this AFD Theatre production, all effortless rendering the more empowering of Morissette tunes, especially Koury with "You Oughta Know" in the show's second act.
There were some minor pitchy moments during the opening night performance, particularly during the intimate number "Head Over Feet" as harmonized between Eggleston and Bowen - but the moments were rare and did not otherwise detract from the overall production.
(Photo: The CAST of Alanis Morissette's "JAGGED LITTLE PILL: THE MUSICAL" now playing at AFD Theatre in Arlington, MA. through October 4, 2026. Photo Credit: Leslie Maiocca)
The various topics of 21st century social issues are brought to the forefront in "JAGGED LITTLE PILL" and the show does not shy away from any of them.
The musical deals with them in an unapologetic "in your face" manner, as in the show's closer, "You Learn" - forcing us to "learn," to recognize that these issues exist in our society and must be dealt with - NOW.
So, if you go to see "JAGGED LITTLE PILL," try to avoid any preconceptions and keep an open mind, because this AFD Theatre cast is supported by a simply electrifying ensemble, all giving stellar performances.
"JAGGED LITTLE PILL" plays at AFD Theatre in Arlington, MA. through October 4th, 2026 but the experience will most likely stay with you forever.
Note: This musical contains mature themes showcasing intense emotional and physical trauma.
Dropping in next at AFD Theatre will be the hilarious comedy on altitude adjustment "RIPCORD" by David Lindsay-Abaire, arriving in Arlington December 4th and departing December 4th, 2026.
For more information or tickets, contact AFD Theatre at www.afdtheatre.org/buy-tickets or by calling the box office at # 781-646-5922 or emailing boxoffice@afdtheatre.org.
BUY TICKETS
Approximately two hours, 30 minutes with one intermission.
Kevin T. Baldwin is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA)
@MetrmagReviews
@Theatre_Critics
ABOUT THE SHOW
Alanis Morissette's "JAGGED LITTLE PILL: THE MUSICAL" is an exhilarating musical inspired by the themes and raw emotions laid bare in Alanis Morissette's seminal album of the same name.
The Healys appear to be a picture-perfect suburban family – but looks can be deceiving.
When the cracks beneath the surface begin to show, they must choose between maintaining the status quo or facing harsh truths about themselves, their community, and the world around them.
ABOUT ARLINGTON FRIENDS OF THE DRAMA/AFD THEATRE
ARLINGTON FRIENDS OF THE DRAMA, now known as AFD THEATRE, was founded in 1923 and is one of the ten oldest continually operating community theatre groups in the country. Now located in the former St. John's Episcopal Church, which has been extensively updated and made handicap-accessible. AFD THEATRE is among the finest area playhouses for actors, directors, production designers and audiences to produce and enjoy live theatre. About AFD THEATRE Seasons: AFD THEATRE puts on four productions: two musicals and two straight plays. AFD THEATRE holds auditions months ahead, and rehearse evenings and weekends. AFD THEATRE welcomes you to join the fun: help build sets, make costumes, do lights. Usher or sell concessions. AFD THEATRE is a community endeavor that seeks to engage all ages in the fun and exciting act of putting on a play!
22 Academy Street
Arlington, MA. 02476
# 781-646-5922
