Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill musical is now becoming a novel
Diablo Cody, who wrote the book for the musical, is involved in the adaptation
Aux News Alanis Morissette
The journey of Alanis Morissette’s 1995 album Jagged Little Pill is certainly unusual: First it was an album, a thing that’s just music. Then, more than 20 years later, it debuted as a jukebox musical that added a plot to the original songs (plus some new ones), with the book being written by Diablo Cody. Now, Cody, Morissette, and Jagged Little Pill producer/co-creator Glen Ballard are teaming up with YA author Eric Smith to complete this weird journey and turn the Jagged Little Pill musical into a novel—which is a thing that’s just story and has no music.
This comes from Rolling Stone, and it means that there will now be a version of Jagged Little Pill that everyone can enjoy, no matter if you like all music, a little music, or no music. (The Jagged Little Pill audiobook is going to significantly complicate matters, though.) The Jagged Little Pill novel will be available in April, and Rolling Stone says the increasingly large web of creators who had a hand in this saga all helped put the novel together in some fashion.
The original musical is about a family going through various struggles that are inspired by the lyrics of Alanis Morissette songs, primarily off of Jagged Little Pill but not exclusively. It earned a whopping 15 Tony nominations last year during the weird COVID-abbreviated musical season, ultimately taking home Best Performance By A Featured Actress In A Musical (for Lauren Patten) and Best Book Of A Musical (Cody).
For anyone who needs more Morissette in their lives, there’s the HBO documentary Jagged that she denounced and also the upcoming ABC sitcom Relatable that’s loosely based on her life. Soon, hopefully, Jagged Little Pill will get adapted into a graphic novel and continue its journey even more, but we’ll have to settle for what we have now until then.
27 Comments
Next there’ll be a movie adaptation of the novel, and finally the movie’s soundtrack will come out, but it’ll just be a rerelease of the original album, finally completing the ouroboros of adaptation and opening the seventh seal so that we can finally put an end to humanity.
And the movie will have a novelization. (Yes, it will be written by Alan Dean Foster.)
And the universe will collapse into a singularity of Alanis-ness?
I’ll wait for the soundtrack.
JLP Soundtrack by Danny Elfman.
I’m holding out for Jagged Little Pogs.
Jovial Lavender Pigs
Does the musical reference how embarrassing the lyrics to “You Oughtta Know” are when delivered by an adult (as opposed the the empowered-female anthem it used to be promoted as) or how infamous “Ironic” is?
Ironic is literally in a high school English class, complete with “that isn’t actually irony” call out. It completely works. There is a shortened version from the Tony’s performance intro.
You Oughta Know is delivered by a teenager, and is phenomenal in the context reworked for the show. It is the signature song for the character played be the best supporting actress winner. Literally has had a number of mid-act standing ovations.
Nice.
I listened to JLP the other day. Like most 90’s music, it has not aged well. I think it’s because the derivative garbage inspired by it that surfaced the early 2000’s overdid the whole faux-angst, mid-tempo quiet/loud formula. There is a reason 80’s music keeps coming back, but not 90’s (or 2000’s)
what was derivative in the 2000s?asking seriously, because the early 2000s were my weird jazz years, so i don’t really know what was hip then.
Your “weird jazz years”?
I read that with a different vowel and I’m not sure I’m wrong.
“wired jazz years” just sounds silly.
i was really into derek bailey and fred ho and the like.
That’s interesting, because Alanis Morissette has been bubbling up in one of my Pandora stations recently, and it’s hitting me much harder than it ever did when I first heard it in the 90s.
You listened to Jean Luc Ponty the other day?
God, my dad made me listen to that shit growing up. Thanks for bringing back the memories!
I figured the reason for 80s music coming back is because God hates me.
Meh. I’m just gonna wait for the Musical Audio Book version to be released.
I’d like to see someone finally write a novel based on The Phantom of the Opera or Les Misérables.
i don’t speak french
All joking aside … the musical is really, really good. I get why Moulin Rouge won a bunch of the Tony’s, but I think the choreography does some really great (better) character work for JLP, it is overall a better musical, and the supporting actress win was 100% on the money. Literally, a performance that creates a mid-act standing ovation on the regular.
Not sure a book version captures exactly why the musical itself works. The story is fine, but it is the way the music/staging adds to the interpretation that makes it really interesting.
“ah yes, one of her hands was in her pocket but the real query remained…where was the other hand? End Prologue”
Is this the musical where Dave Coulier is re-imagined as transgender and sings “You Oughta Know!” in an accusatory tone when she tries to go down on him in the theater and there’s nothing to go down on?