Do you have to be an Alanis acolyte to swallow “Jagged Little Pill: The Musical”?

If you’re not a fan of Alanis Morissette, Jagged Little Pill: The Musical may be a bad fit — yes because of all those hit songs you didn’t much like the first time around, but also because the sensibilities of Diablo Cody’s book are in keeping with the maladroit obviousism of Morissette’s lyrics, stacking up cliches like cords of firewood in anticipation of the worst winter on record

But hey, Cody got a Tony for that book (which is sitting on the mantle right next to her screenwriting Oscar for Juno), and Morissette has sold like 75 million records, so what the fuck do you know? There’s an audience for this sort of thing — including most of the people around me on opening night in the nave of Long Beach’s historic First Congregational Church, as fun and unique of a venue in which you’ll ever she/hear a musical.

It’s Christmastime, and Mary Jane Healy (Megan O’Toole) is summing up the state of the Healy family for their annual holiday greeting card: successful Steve (Jay Dysart) is busy as ever at work, the kids are fab — Nick (Jacob Anthony Cain) just got into Harvard, Frankie (Evelyn Carter) is beavering away for social justice — and Mary Jane is the happy, healthy homemaker. But it’s what she leaves out that drives the action of play, particularly her opioid addition (jagged little pill, see?).

If you know the (song)Book of Alanis, you can guess at some of what’s coming: disaffection, putting up a false front, suffering/surviving sexual predation, the highs and lows of love. Into this stew Cody tosses “gender and LGBTQ+ identity, transracial adoption, and mental health” (says the program). Everybody goes through trials and comes out stronger and wiser on the other side, because you live, you learn, right?

Although Morissette and co-writer Glen Ballard could never write hooks the way, say, fellow ’90 supernova Noel Gallagher did for Oasis, the non-fan may be surprised to find how many of the duo’s meandering melodies resonate when repurposed into polyphonies for the ensemble. That’s easy to hear in this show, because singing together is the cast’s great strength. Music director Curtis Heard has them purring as one big, beautiful engine on “All I Really Want”, “You Learn”, and Act One closer “Forgiven”, which is all the more sonically dynamic for director Richard J. Martinez’s positioning Evelyn Carter (one of his strongest singers) amid the audience.

Heard has less success with the soloists. Even the non-fan must admit that Morissette is a strong, distinct vocal presence. Without it, some melodies seem particularly drab, even as the eight-piece band in the church basement consistently delivers the goods.

There are, however, a pair notably strong solos back-to-back in Act Two. On “Predator”, Sarah Ledesma absolutely knocks it out of the park, tunefully howling the pain of sexual victimization in a scene whose staging is probably Martinez’s best work. Then comes “You Oughta Know”.

Sure, “You Oughta Know” is far, far, FAR and away the non-fan’s favorite, but I guess that’s true for diehards, too (like “Rock and Roll All Nite” for KISS)? Because if the cast had waited for the applause to subside before carrying on with the rest of the show, I might still be sitting in my pew. But part of that outpouring of love was for Cole Whither’s channeling a lot of the energy of Morissette’s signature vocal. Occupational hazard: If the audience feels a particular song in a musical is the song, the performers better fucking bring it. Consider it brought. Whither, the band, the ensemble — damn.

Overall, the biggest weakness is the dancing. But you probably don’t come for the dancing. You probably come because you love the songs of Morissette/Ballard. To be sure, that love (or lack thereof) is probably the best predictor of whether Jagged Little Pill: The Musical has a chance with you. 

Jagged Little Pill: The Musical at Long Beach Landmark Theatre Company

Times: Fri–Sat 7:30pm, Sun 7pm; “Unplugged” matinees Nov. 16 & 23 at 1 p.m.
The show runs through November 23.
Cost: $40–$65 (“Unplugged” matinees $25)
Details: (562) 856-1999, lblandmark.org
Venue: First Congregational Church of Long Beach (241 Cedar Ave., Long Beach)