Laura and Samara spend their days as non-profit unicorns and fill every spare minute exploring the world of musical theatre as BFFs (that’s Broadway Friends Forever). Follow @bffs613 on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
One of Canada’s musical icons is bringing her Broadway show to Ottawa’s National Arts Centre next week. Jagged Little Pill, featuring music from Alanis Morissette’s seminal rock album, tells an original story about a perfectly imperfect family facing modern struggles we can all relate to. On Broadway, it was nominated for a season record of 15 Tony Awards and is now touring across North America. The BFFs got to sit down with Canadian cast member Jena Vanelslander to talk about bringing the show to Alanis’s hometown and what this production means to her.
What does it feel like being a part of a show with such Canadian roots as you get to visit multiple Canadian cities throughout the tour?
Well, I’m from Brantford, Ontario, just an hour west of Toronto, and I grew up jamming to Alanis Morissette—this was the album of my childhood and teens. To bring this show and this music to my stomping grounds and my country is very, very special. We’re so excited to share with audiences in Ottawa. So many themes in the show hit on a human level so deeply, no matter where you’re from, but I think it’s going to be extra iconic bringing it to Alanis’s hometown. I can’t wait to feel the energy in the audience because I think there are going to be some fans of the music, and in turn some fans of the show, so this is going to be a special one.
You play Mary Jane’s avatar in the show, also often described as her shadow, which is a really cool concept. How does it feel to be able to be able to add such depth to a story through dance and movement?
Mary Jane plays the mother in the show and has been through a car accident and is addicted to opioids, but she puts on this front to the world as this picture-perfect Connecticut mother. Everything is great and fine and perfect, but she is in turmoil inside. She is unwilling to face this herself and is unwilling to share that part of her humanity on the outside, so she’s really kind of suppressing so much. It’s like a hurricane inside of her that she’s containing. So I play that inner vulnerable, perfectly imperfect and beautifully ugly truth of hers that she’s not willing to come to terms with. To embody that in movement, I mean, I love grounded, real, raw emotional energy type movement and this embodies my whole human movement as well. It’s very athletic, sensual and sensitive as well. It’s a powerful thing to elevate the story and her character through this movement.
Jagged Little Pill is a famous album with countless smash hits—what number do you enjoy the most performing on stage during the show?
It’s definitely the song “Uninvited,” it’s been one of my favourite songs since I was a kid. I grew up dancing to it and my favourite lyrical solo that I would compete with was this. This song has been in my bones for so long, so now to perform it, especially beside Heidi Blickenstaff [from the Broadway run], it’s such a beautiful iconic full circle. So it’s definitely my favourite song, my favourite piece, and probably one of the top experiences I’ve had on stage in my whole life. This one goes down in the books.
Jena VanElslander. Photo provided.
As a fellow Canadian, what is it about Alanis Morrisette’s music that you think fans connect so strongly to?
Alanis is like a prophet in a way, she started a wave in music when there wasn’t much of what she was doing. She is often referred to as angry, and she says that if there’s one word that people are going to use she will take angry. It’s so beautiful, it causes friction and heat which makes movement and makes an action or a ripple. Anger is such a strong and beautiful emotion. With every song of hers, you can resonate with something in there. It was so relevant for the times in the ’90s, but it’s also so timely and relevant now—what she’s saying and what the lyrics are about. It’s timeless and within the show, it’s elevating these perfectly imperfect issues that so many millions of families are facing today, including opioid addiction, sexual assault, gender identity, and marriage crisis. I don’t think there is anyone who can’t resonate deeply with this, something in this show and what they’re seeing on stage, and everyone at least knows someone who’s struggling with something like this. Just how close it hits home really makes the show and the music timeless and iconic.
What can fans of the original album and Alanis’s music expect from the stage production?
Audiences can expect to be taken through an authentic, real, raw experience of what it is to be human. There’s something really beautiful about seeing that experience be played out in such a beautiful way, and it almost gives the audience permission to take a deep dive into themselves and be a little more honest and wonder if there’s something different or better.
Jagged Little Pill (presented by Broadway Across Canada) runs from May 30 to June 4 at the National Arts Centre. Evening performances are at 8pm, except Sunday at 7:30pm. Matinees are on Saturday at 2pm. and Sunday at 1pm. The show run for 2 hours and 40 minutes with an intermission. Tickets start at $80. This show is recommended for ages 14 and up. Please note: This production contains strong language, adult themes, drug use, and moments of sexual violence that some may find upsetting.
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