'Jagged Little Pill' crafts Alanis Morissette songs into jukebox musical

Jan. 15—Alanis Morissette's 1995 album, "Jagged Little Pill," marked an alt-rock, grunge swerve from the Canadian singer-songwriter's two previous dance-pop albums.

Songs like "You Oughta Know" explored hot-button themes like sexuality, sexual harassment, self-help and societal apathy.

The songs and themes are incorporated in "Jagged Little Pill," a jukebox musical that debuted on Broadway in 2019. The musical's national tour premiere comes to the Benedum Center on Jan. 24-29 via Pittsburgh Cultural Trust's PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh series.

With music and lyrics by Morissette and Glen Ballard, lyrics by Morissette and book by screenwriter Diablo Cody, the story delves into the lives of a seemingly perfect Healy family. Underneath the shiny surface, parents MJ and Steve are hiding separate addictions, Harvard-bound son Nick is struggling to uphold an image of perfection and adopted daughter Frankie is wrestling with being queer and being Black in a white family and social milieu.

The musical opens with MJ writing her yearly Christmas letter, upholding that façade of perfection, and ends a year later with another letter, this time honestly addressing what the family has dealt with in the preceding 12 months.

"It's a story for so many people, and even if we don't always see ourselves in the

story, there are so many people who do," said New York-based actor Jordan McCaskill, who is a member of the ensemble, portrays the Healys' therapist and covers the role of Frankie. "There are so many ways we can find ourselves in it, whether through the music or the writing, or even the direction and choreography."

As a Black woman, McCaskill said she is especially sympathetic to the character of Frankie.

"What really interests me about that character, and getting to play her every so often, is it reminds me of myself, a 15- or 16-year-old, young Black child who really wants to make a difference in the world, but not sure how to do so, not sure how to express that to the people around her."

Being adopted adds another layer to Frankie's alienation, McCaskill added.

"Usually in the world around her, at home and at school, she is the only Black person," she said. "This person is going through something and not seeing anyone else around them that looks like them.

"It's important for me to be able to share that with young Black girls who are watching," she said. "How do they see themselves in a beautiful light in Frankie? That's something that's been a joy for me in getting to do this role."

McCaskill, 26, first auditioned for the understudy role of Frankie in 2021 while living in the United Kingdom.

"I flew back to the U.S. to audition, but it didn't happen,"

she said. "In 2022, I was moving into a New York apartment and got a call from my agent, asking if I was interested in doing the show.

"It didn't work out the first time, but they kept me in mind and asked if I was interested in joining the tour."

Before signing on, McCaskill said she wasn't overly familiar with Morisette's music.

"Some of (the cast) grew up with her and always loved her music. I knew all of the big songs — 'You Oughta Know,' 'Ironic' — but this show was a big introduction to Alanis Morisette for me," she said. "I do love the music, and it's so incredible to sing and feel it. Sometimes between all the intense story lines in the show, it feels like a rock concert."

Born in New York and raised in New Jersey, McCaskill has a Pittsburgh connection in Nick Lenz, head of the musical theater department at Westinghouse Arts Academy Charter School in Wilmerding. They were classmates at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Va.

McCaskill previously taught a master class at the academy and hopes to do so in between shows at the Benedum.

"I like to come back and try to help out when I can," she said.

Tickets for "Jagged Little Pill" are $35-$119. For reservations and complete schedule, call 412-456-6666 or visit trustarts.org.

Shirley McMarlin is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Shirley by email at smcmarlin@triblive.com or via Twitter .