A chat with JAGGED LITTLE PILL’S AYDAN!
Jagged Little Pill is open in Melbourne!
A musical comprised of the music of Alanis Morissette, the Australian premiere of Jagged Little Pill marks the first international production of the show outside of Broadway. The show ran a highly successful Sydney season, and has just opened its Melbourne season. It then tours to Perth before coming back to Sydney for a return season.
The show follows the Healy family navigating through the difficulties of life such as battling addiction, grappling with trauma, exploring sexuality, encountering racism, and processing sexual assault. Theatre has long been an agent of change, acting as a platform to reflect real issues back onto its audience – Jagged Little Pill holds that mirror right up, creating a forum for discussion and inviting a societal change.
Singer Songwriter AYDAN started in the music world, but is proving to be an up-and-coming theatre star. He first rose to fame on the 2018 season of The Voice Australia, going on to sign with Island Records and Specific Music. He has always had a passion for theatre, and recently starred as Harry in the Australian tour of Yve Blake’s Fangirls. AYDAN plays Phoenix, the new kid to school, in the Australian premiere production of Jagged Little Pill.
Are you excited to be tackling another musical?
AYDAN: I loved doing Fangirls, and I honestly didn’t think that I was going to jump into another musical so soon. But when Jagged came up, I was just like “I might have to put the musical boots back on and give it a shot.” And it’s gone down really well for me, because I hadn’t really done a musical in a very long time when I got Fangirls – and there I just got to be, you know, a singer. And this is kind of like an in between. Obviously a lot of songs are rock and roll, especially some of the songs I get to sing.
Do you see any of yourself in Phoenix?
AYDAN: Oh, yeah. In the script it says “a good looking yet offbeat and serious teenager” [laughs] I love that, you know, I’m going to wear all that proudly. But I guess me and Phoenix have a few similarities. He’s kind of smart, but not like a brainiac, and also doesn’t like to let too many people know that. He just kind of flies under the radar and does his thing. That really resonates with me as a person, especially when I was in high school. So there’s definitely a few things that I’m going to be bringing on board.
Jagged Little Pill deals with a large array of serious themes. How do you as an actor work through the serious content?
AYDAN: We’ve actually had some conversations about that. Whenever we deal with the hard hitting scenes or some of the heavy songs, as opposed to lighthearted ones, we try and do like a little check in with all the cast and creatives in the room. We just kind of chat about how we feel, it’s very supportive in the room. If you need to step out for a second or if anything gets a little too deep or for you, you can take that time. It’s really nice that we have that kind of space when dealing with the topics that we are, and the story that we’re telling. It’s been really lovely.
As a musician, how have you found performing the music of Alanis Morissette?
AYDAN: There’ve been so many of these songs that have been a dream of mine to just it out, like, you know, on stage, and it’s never really had the opportunity because, you know, it doesn’t always line up with with performances outside of musicals. But yeah, it’s kind of like a dream come true that I just get to belt out all these big hits on stage with my mates. So yeah, it’s insane. I love ‘Ironic,’ it’s one of my favourite Alanis songs – I mean, it’s one of the biggest, so it’s kind of basic [chuckles], but yeah, I just think the lyrics are actually really deep. I loved hearing it come together in the rehearsal room and see it come together on stage as well. And even if they’re not all the big smash hits, they all have a really important role in the show. I think that really accentuates how good of a writer Alanis is. This story really complements the songs and vice versa.
Jagged Little Pill is currently playing at Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre until March.
For tickets and more information, visit the Jagged Little Pill website.
Header image: Stuart Miller
