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Diablo Cody writing musical based on Alanis Morissette’s ‘Jagged Little Pill’

Detail from the cover of Alanis Morissette's 'Jagged Little Pill'
Detail from the cover of Alanis Morissette's 'Jagged Little Pill'

by Jackie Renzetti

May 30, 2017

You oughta know: the Alanis Morissette album Jagged Little Pill is being made into a stage musical of the same name, set for a 2018 debut.

In addition to several songs from the 1995 hit album, the musical will include other songs from Morissette's career. The musical will premiere at the prestigious American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Mass. in May 2018. It features a script by Diablo Cody, who won an Oscar for the Juno screenplay, and orchestrations and arrangements from Tom Kitt, who has won Pulitzer and Tony awards for his work on Next to Normal and If/Then.

The plot is expected to tackle issues including gender identity and race, as dissected by a "contemporary, multi-generational family," according to Rolling Stone.

Jagged Little Pill won five Grammy awards, including Album of the Year. Playbill reports that "Ironic," "You Oughta Know," and "Hand in My Pocket" are among the songs expected to feature in the stage version.

Before becoming a screenwriter, Cody wrote for City Pages when she lived in Minneapolis. She chronicled her time stripping at the Skyway Lounge and working at Sex World on her popular personal blog, which provided the basis for her 2005 memoir, Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper.

Given that Cody has based some of her work in Minnesota before (with Juno being set in Elk River and Charlize Theron's Young Adult living in Minneapolis), it's hard not to speculate as to whether Jagged Little Pill might end up being set here as well. A traffic jam — when you're already late! — certainly would not be "Ironic" on I-94.

Also, a sweater from the "Ironic" video is already on display at Mall of America.

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This activity is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.