Alanis Morissette Reflects on Broadway Shutdown With 'You Learn' Performance (Exclusive)

Alanis Morissette performs at O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire in london
Rob Ball/WireImage

The singer and 'Jagged Little Pill' star Elizabeth Stanley perform a poignant duet of the hit song.

This week marks the one-year anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic, which led to the shutdown of Broadway in New York City. To help reflect on the experiences of the past year, ET can exclusively debut Alanis Morissette’s previously unreleased duet of “You Learn” with Tony-nominated Jagged Little Pill star Elizabeth Stanley.

“My favorite thing in the world is to collaborate with people who are willing to let an artistic partnership push us to the next place in our evolution as artists,” Morissette said of the duet. 

She added, “It's been really hard to be without my Jagged family for so many dark days this year, but I am deeply honored to know each person in this Broadway family and feel blessed beyond measure that our passion has continued to burn brightly, and our care and passion has only grown. This musical shifted my perception of myself as a lonely artist to a partner in the sweetest of art-crimes.”

The song was originally part of Morissette’s landmark 1995 album, Jagged Little Pill, before it was recently adapted into the closing number of the Broadway musical written by Diablo Cody. The show, which follows a family on a journey of healing, stars Stanley as matriarch Mary Jane “M.J.” Healy, who is battling an addiction to painkillers while trying to keep her marriage from falling apart.     

First opening on Broadway in December 2019, the show debuted to critical acclaim and eventually earned 15 Tony nominations, the most of any show of the shortened 2019–2020 season. The production is expected to reopen once it’s safe to do so.

While New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that events, arts and entertainment venues can start reopening at reduced capacity in April, Broadway performances remain suspended until May 30.     

“With an eye toward our reconvening bliss, I send love today to the Broadway community, and a vision of connection and togetherness for tomorrow,” Morissette said of the shutdown. “The image of us reuniting after having been dark for such an unusually long time brings tears to my eyes, not only for how much I have missed everyone, but also for how beautiful it will feel to come together, and sing our clarion calls of the deepest truths within us all.” 

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