Jagged Little Pill

About the show

Setting: Connecticut This musical tells the story of how the Healys, a seemingly perfect white Connecticut family with an adopted Black daughter, begins to unravel when faced with issues of repressed gender identity, sexual assault, and substance abuse. Mary Jane (MJ) Healy is a mother writing the yearly family Christmas letter. She writes about her husband Steve's job promotion, her daughter Frankie's art, and her son Nick's early admission to Harvard University. MJ writes that she got into a car crash, but is healing with the help of natural remedies. What she doesn't write is that Steve is addicted to pornography, Frankie is making out with her best friend, Jo, as the letter is being written, and MJ is addicted to the painkillers from the car accident ("Right Through You"). MJ pressures Nick and Frankie to be perfect to keep up the family's image ("All I Really Want"). At school, Frankie and Jo discuss how their mothers don't understand or accept them: Frankie's mom because of her disapproval of her self-expression, and Jo's mom not accepting them being gay or their gender expression. Jo is thankful for how Frankie understands them, and is sure that everything will turn out alright in the end ("Hand in My Pocket"). MJ tries to get drugs from the pharmacy, but she is out of refills. Desperate, she meets with a familiar dealer, who provides her with opioids. She moves through her day backward, starting with unpacking groceries at home, getting her painkillers in the alley, keeping up appearances with other school moms, and ending with her running out of pills at the beginning of the day ("Smiling"). On the last day of Frankie's English class before winter break, she reads a short story she wrote aloud. The students in the class criticize her since things she claims to be ironic in her piece are not technically ironic, just bad things that happened to someone. A new student, Phoenix, defends Frankie and encourages her to finish ("Ironic"). A romantic attraction begins between the two. After class, Phoenix and Frankie decide to go to a party that night. At home, MJ and Steve get into an argument. Steve says he wants to see a marriage counselor, but MJ refuses ("So Unsexy"). Nick comforts MJ after the fight, to which she responds that he is the only thing she has ever done right. Nick reflects on the pressures on him from his mother to be perfect ("Perfect"). Frankie and Nick go to the party ("Lancer's Party (So Pure)"). Frankie and Phoenix find each other and leave the crowded party to talk alone, and they discuss their imperfect family lives. Meanwhile, Jo doesn't attend the party because their mom forced them to go to a church function. Jo's mom scolds them for not dressing femininely enough ("That I Would Be Good"). The following day, Jo shows Frankie pictures that are circulating throughout the school of Bella, Nick's friend, who was drunk, passed out, and had her shirt pulled up at the party. Other students quickly mock Bella, calling her a slut. Despite barely knowing her, Frankie and Jo go to Bella's house to check on her. Bella reveals that Andrew, Nick's best friend, was the one who took the pictures and raped her. Frankie goes home and wakes Nick up to reprimand him about not going to the police, since he was the only one who saw how drunk Bella was. Nick brushes off Bella's claim, accusing her of being dramatic. MJ overhears the conversation and insists that Nick not come forward as it might ruin his reputation. MJ blames Bella for what happened since she chose to drink, but she is visibly upset by the story ("Wake Up"). MJ walks to the church for the first time in a while to pray about her failing marriage, struggling relationship with Frankie, and for help with her addiction. She then reflects on her memory of being raped in college, but blames herself and feels it was God's plan for her ("Forgiven"). Steve and MJ go to their first marriage counseling session, despite MJ's reluctance ("Not the Doctor"). Meanwhile, Frankie and Phoenix hang out at a playground and end up sleeping together ("Head over Feet"). Jo enters the Healys' house uninvited ("Your House") and walks in on Frankie and Phoenix. Jo gets mad and storms out of Frankie's room. MJ and Steve come home early, and Jo tells them that Frankie and Phoenix had sex. Phoenix flees quickly, leaving Frankie alone with her parents. MJ and Steve reprimand her for having sex so young. Frankie comes out to her parents as bisexual, and she gets mad at her parents for disapproving of her consensual sex but not caring about Bella's rape. She subsequently runs away from the house. Steve and MJ fight about the former not being present during Frankie's childhood, while Frankie takes a train alone to New York ("Unprodigal Daughter"). When she gets lost in the city, Frankie calls Phoenix. She tells him that she loves him and that he should come pick her up. However, when Phoenix doesn't say "I love you" back and says he needs to stay at home to help his sister with a medical condition, Frankie gets angry, feeling that Phoenix used her for her body. Students gossip about Bella and her accusations against Andrew. Bella comes to the Healys' house to talk to Nick, but MJ is the only person at home. MJ tries to comfort Bella by telling her she was also raped in college. Bella asks MJ when she started to feel better after her rape, but MJ doesn't answer. Bella leaves, realizing that it may never get better. Nick comes clean to MJ, telling her he walked in on Andrew raping an unconscious Bella but did nothing and left ("Predator"). Nick says he wants to go to the police, but MJ protests, stating it would only ruin his life. When Nick accuses her of selfishness, MJ slaps him. Jo comes to New York to pick up Frankie after she calls them out of desperation, lost, and out of money. Frankie shows little remorse for sleeping with Phoenix since she didn't think her relationship with Jo was exclusive. She tells Jo that she is in love with Phoenix. Jo, enraged that the one person they felt understood them doesn't love them, ends the relationship ("You Oughta Know"). At home, MJ overdoses on pills. Steve and Nick find her unconscious ("Uninvited"). When Steve gets to the hospital, he is devastated that he didn't know MJ had an addiction and promises her he will be there for her and the family from now on ("Mary Jane"). When Nick gets to the hospital, MJ tells him he should report to the police, but Nick reveals he already told them about what happened to Bella. Meanwhile, several students attend the rally that Frankie organized to get justice for Bella. Nick apologizes to Bella, who is angered that people only believed her once Nick came forward ("No"). A year has passed, and MJ is writing the Christmas letter again. She writes about the progress being made in their relationships and lives. MJ tells Frankie that she wanted her to feel like every other kid and not be treated differently because of her race, but Frankie tells her that she wouldn't have wanted to fit in with the people in their town ("Thank U"). Frankie dares MJ to email the Christmas letter to everyone, despite its frankness about her overdose and her dislike of the culture in their town. MJ sends it, deciding that this will be her last Christmas letter. Jo and Frankie rekindle their friendship, and Jo has a new girlfriend. Frankie and Phoenix are now just friends. Frankie and MJ, Bella and Nick, and Steve and MJ all now appear to have mended their relationships. Everyone acknowledges that their bad decisions all help them learn and become better people ("You Learn").