Sunday Arts Magazine

31 Jan 2022

Jagged Little Pill

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Multi award winner Natalie Bassingthwaighte (she/her) stars in the electrifying and inspiring Australian production of JAGGED LITTLE PILL in the lead role of Mary Jane Healy, alongside critically acclaimed film, TV and stage actor and recording artist, Tim Draxl (he/him) as Steve Healy. Making her musical theatre debut, Emily Nkomo (she/her) stars as Frankie Healy, and Queensland Conservatorium of Music graduate Liam Head (he/him) will play Nick Healy.

After originating the lead role of Muriel in Muriel’s Wedding the Musical, and recently performing in the US tour of Dear Evan Hansen Maggie McKenna (they/them) stars as Jo, with emerging stage and theatre performer Grace Miell (she/they) playingBella and Phoenix is played by AYDAN (he/him) who has maintained a strong following after his appearance on The Voice and featured role as Harry in Fangirls.

Joining them will be the stellar ensemble cast Baylie Carson (they/she), Bella Choundary (she/her), Josh Gates (they/he), Matt Hamilton (he/him), Georgina Hopson (she/her), Marie Ikonomou (she/her), Caleb Jago-Ward (he/him), Jerome Javier (he/him), Giorgia Kennedy (she/her), Coby Njoroge (he/him), Noah Mullins (he/him), Isabella Roberts (she/her), Trevor Santos (he/him), Mon Vergara (they/them), Romy Vuksan (she/her) and Imani Williams (she/her).

Tony Award winning Director Diane Paulus said, “We are thrilled to welcome this incredible Australian company to the Jagged Little Pill family, led by the remarkable Natalie and Maggie. It was so special to have members of the Australian cast and creative team working with us on the ground in New York to begin our rehearsal process. I can’t wait for Australian audiences—the first beyond Broadway—to experience Alanis Morrisette’s electrifying music in this story about family and healing.”

Tim Draxl said of his casting, “I was introduced to Alanis Morrisette and Jagged Little Pill when I was a teenager through my older brother, and it truly was the album that took me from my jazz and musical theatre collection into the world of meaningfully written pop music. It was my road trip album of choice back then and now I am excited to be bringing those same songs to life in this important contemporary story with Nat Bass as my co-star and the rest of this incredible cast.”

“Oh my goodness I am beyond excited to be cast in my very first professional musical theatre production and none other than a Tony Award winning Broadway show like Jagged Little Pill! I love the character of Frankie so much. She’s strong, complex, rebellious, and socially aware. I seriously can’t wait to get to embody her whilst performing some of Alanis Morissette’s best songs.”, Said Emily Nkomo.

Liam Head commented, “I’m so excited to be onstage, working with artists that I have watched and admired from the audience for so long. I cannot wait to jump into the rehearsal room and start developing the role of Nick, working off the brilliant cast and creatives around me. The soundtrack is amazing, the Tony award winning script is amazing, the creatives are amazing – It will certainly be a very full, and very rewarding experience.”

“As a non binary, queer human, there are not many roles that I audition for (let alone see on stage) that get to explore gender and sexual queerness. I was drawn to this role because Jo’s journey resonates with me, and I have experienced a lot of what Jo grapples with through the show. The conversations around this role have been incredibly important and needed. We need theatre to be an inclusive, safe and inviting space for everyone. I stand with my trans and GNC sibs and I am proud and honoured to be a part of this community. Our voices are needed in this space right now. We deserve to be seen, heard and represented and I feel very privileged that through this opportunity, I will get to use my voice as I step into the role of Jo in Jagged Little Pill.”, said Maggie McKenna

“We are thrilled that in the same week that our Broadway production returns for live performances, we are also announcing our talented and diverse Australian cast and beginning rehearsals in Sydney. We can’t wait for audiences in Australia to see this story of radical honesty, radical forgiveness and radical inclusion.”, said producers Vivek J. Tiwary, Arvind Ethan David and Eva Price.

Inspired by the seminal rock album of the same name by seven-time Grammy Award winner Alanis Morissette, JAGGED LITTLE PILL is an “electrifying, visceral and stunning” (The Hollywood Reporter) new musical with an original story about a perfectly imperfect American family, written by Tony and Academy Award-winner Diablo Cody (Juno, Tully). Ignited by Morissette’s groundbreaking lyrics and music – from beloved hits such as “You Oughta Know,” “Head Over Feet,” “Hand In My Pocket,” and “Ironic”, to brand new songs written for the show – JAGGED LITTLE PILL is directed by Tony Award winner Diane Paulus (Waitress, Pippin). Through explosive choreography by Tony Award nominee and frequent Beyoncé collaborator Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui (“Apesh*t”; “Love Drought/Sandcastles” Live at The Grammys), and the raw power of an onstage band under the Musical Supervision, Orchestrations and Arrangements of Grammy, Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner Tom Kitt (Next to Normal, American Idiot), this emphatic new musical creates a spellbinding experience that “vaults the screaming audience to its collective feet” (The Guardian).

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:36 — 12.1MB)

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