The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade allowed Broadway performers to shine on a national stage after COVID-19 shut down the Great White Way.
A good thing, right?
Enter “Jagged Little Pill,” the Tony-nominated musical based on the songs from Alanis Morissette’s hit 1995 album of the same name.
As members of the cast delivered a rendition of Morissette’s “You Learn,” viewers tuning in at home turned to social media to look at other people on social media in disbelief. Some experienced a distinct feeling of discomfort. Others cringed at hearing voices that weren’t Morissette’s deliver her famous lyrics.
You live, you learn?
The song from “Jagged Little Pill” was just one musical number among several prerecorded segments featured at the parade from shows including “Mean Girls,” “Hamilton” and “Ain’t Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations.”
Because of the pandemic, the parade did away with its usual float and balloon route in favor of spectacles set in front of the entrance of Macy’s or the home of individual Broadway shows. Also gone was the usual crowd of people on the sidelines.
But plenty of people weighed in on “Jagged Little Pill” at home.
They apparently were not swayed by the production’s 15 Tony nominations — the most of any show this year — including best musical.
“I feel like the Jagged Little Pill musical is proof that most things should not become musical theater,” tweeted editor Bonnie Stiernberg.
“I love musicals,” Michaela Flack tweeted. “I very much appreciate Canadian legend Alanis (Morissette). But I do not understand how ‘Jagged Little Pill: The Musical’ got made. These songs were meant for Alanis and Alanis only.”
“As a huge Alanis fan, Broadway Jagged little pill is a hard pass,” Naomi Rivas tweeted. “I feel like a teenager being embarrassed by my parents.”
Some compared the look of the performance to a pharmaceutical commercial.
Seeing the deluge of negative feedback, fans of the musical came to the show’s defense.
They pointed out, for instance, that the song was a small part of the whole and divorced of its usual context in the show.
For those undeterred in their appreciation of the musical, there will be a livestreamed “Jagged Little Pill” performance Dec. 13 that is being billed as a “Broadway Reunion Concert.”
The cast will come together after nearly 10 months off the stage to perform selections from the show in support of the #SaveOurStages movement in partnership with performing arts centers and theaters across the country.
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Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com.
The Link LonkNovember 26, 2020 at 11:52PM
https://www.nj.com/entertainment/2020/11/jagged-little-pill-performance-at-macys-thanksgiving-parade-goes-down-wrong-pipe-for-some-viewers.html
‘Jagged Little Pill’ performance at Macy’s Thanksgiving parade goes down wrong pipe for some viewers - NJ.com
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