Jade McLeod and the North American tour of “Jagged Little Pill.” Photo by Matthew Murphy.
Alanis Morissette released “Jagged Little Pill” in 1995, changing the trajectory of the singer’s career in the process. A blend of pop, rock and grunge, it became one of the best-selling albums of all time and won five Grammys, including Album of the Year.
The album has been re-released for major milestones since then, also finding new life on stage. Morissette partnered with Academy Award-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody for a jukebox musical of the same name, which premiered in 2018 and moved to Broadway the next year.
“Some shows you see. This show you feel,” it’s described. “Joy, love, heartache, strength, wisdom, catharsis, LIFE — everything we’ve been waiting to see in a Broadway show— is here in the exhilarating, fearless new musical based on Alanis Morissette’s world-changing music.”
“Jagged Little Pill’s” use of Morissette’s catalogue to showcase contemporary life on stage was quickly celebrated. Recommended for those 17+, it addresses one family’s story of sexual assault, opiate addiction, transracial adoption, LGBTQ+ identity, mental health and more.
Its accolades included 15 Tony Awards nominations in the 2019-20 season, the most for any show. It won two of them; Diablo was awarded Best Book of a Musical while LGBTQ+ entertainer Lauren Patten won Best Performance by a Featured Actress for originating the character Joanne “Jo” Taylor, a celebrated role that was also mired in controversy.
Ahead of “Jagged Little Pill’s” post-COVID reopening, investigations were launched over the production’s treatment of its trans and nonbinary performers. Concerns included the musical’s presentation of Jo, who was portrayed as nonbinary in its pre-Broadway run and as cisgender after that.
“In Jo, we set out to portray a character on a gender expansive journey without a known outcome,” producers responded. “Throughout the creative process … we made mistakes in how we handled this evolution. We should have protected and celebrated the fact that the non-binary audience members saw in Jo a bold, defiant, complex and vibrant representation of their community.”
The production subsequently partnered with organizations like The Trevor Project and Trans Lifeline to amplify LGBTQ+ voices and revisit the show’s script. They also broadened their casting process and for Jo, prioritized “auditioning actors for the role who are on gender journeys or understand that experience personally.”
Its national tour launched in 2022 as a reflection of that. Nonbinary performer Jade McLeod, who plays Jo on the road, was instrumental in ensuring their community had equitable representation.
“This show was always written for queer audiences and registered with people so deeply,” they said in an interview with Watermark in 2023. “One thing that’s really beautiful about Jo is they are a total weirdo and exist outside of every box, the least of all gender. So it was always something that resonated.
“The creative team and Lauren Patten created such an unreasonably lovable character,” McLeod continues. “For a supporting role like this to be as touching and as funny, well-written and as deeply, deeply lovable as Jo is rare. I think it needs to be, especially on tour, because the character is queer and nonbinary. People may not always want to connect with that but we’re going to force you — you have no choice to love Jo.”
McLeod did right away. The performer says they were “always kind of a weird kid” who loved the arts and vividly recalls hearing Patten sing Morissette’s iconic “You Oughtta Know” on the original cast recording.
“I was like, ‘oh my God, that’s me,’” they recall. “‘That’s my voice. I was losing my ever-loving mind.”
McLeod’s audition was particularly memorable for them.
“To walk into an audition room and for the first time in my career, to have it be an entire room where everyone that was auditioning was nonbinary, it changed my life,” they say. “That alone rocked my world.”
Landing the role impacted McLeod’s life in an even more profound way, paving the way for them to showcase identities like theirs on stage. Interacting with fans has been the most rewarding part.
“Bringing my own experience as a queer and nonbinary person has just been wonderful,” they say, “and I think it’s just deepened the show even more, giving people representation that they’d been craving and yearning for … it is totally invaluable.”
McLeod says that while they understand some members of the LGBTQ+ community may have reservations about the production’s missteps, the work they’ve done shouldn’t be discounted. They point toward the tour’s trans and nonbinary employees and more.
“All we can ask of the world and of people is to grow and to learn, and ‘Jagged’ really did that,” McLeod notes. “Whatever feelings you may have, know that this company employs 10+ trans and nonbinary people and those kinds of numbers are unheard of in the theater world”
Outside of “Jagged Little Pill’s” meaningful change, it’s also just an incredibly entertaining show. McLeod says it features something for everyone, whether they’re a fan of Alanis Morissette’s music or not.
“This is a story that everyone can relate to and there’s a character in this for everybody,” they explain. “I think that’s the whole goal of this show, to make people feel seen and to challenge people’s boundaries of what they think they’re allowed to feel.”
It’s what Morissette’s music has always done.
“She’s given everyone permission to feel very, very deeply and our show is a reflection of that,” McLeod says. “You’ll come out better for having seen it.”
“Jagged Little Pill” is playing at the Dr. Phillips Center in Orlando March 19-24. Tickets are available at DrPhillipsCenter.org.
