Aimee Mann's Girl Interrupted Musical Is Finally Coming To Stage

7 hours ago7 min read2 comments

The long-awaited stage adaptation of Susanna Kaysen’s seminal 1993 memoir, 'Girl, Interrupted,' finally has its moment in the spotlight, a project brought to life through the poignant songwriting of the great Aimee Mann. This news feels like a triumphant opening night after a painfully long preview period; Mann first revealed she was composing songs for a couple of stage musicals, including this very adaptation, seven years ago in an interview with the *Los Angeles Review of Books*.For context, the journey from page to stage has been a marathon compared to its cinematic predecessor, the 1999 James Mangold film that catapulted Angelina Jolie to an Oscar win for her raw portrayal of Lisa Rowe, with Winona Ryder anchoring the film as Kaysen. The gestation of a stage musical is a different beast entirely from film, requiring not just a narrative but a sonic soul, and Mann’s signature lyrical depth—often exploring themes of isolation, misunderstood lives, and fragile psyches in her own celebrated solo work—makes her an almost preordained choice to score the confined, intense world of a 1960s psychiatric hospital.The original memoir is a stark, episodic exploration of Kaysen’s 18-month stay at McLean Hospital, a series of vignettes that dissect the thin line between sanity and insanity, a structure that presents a fascinating challenge for theatrical translation. Will it be a traditional book musical or a more contemporary, jukebox-style piece where Mann’s existing catalog weaves through the narrative? The potential is immense.One can imagine the haunting melodies Mann is known for giving voice to the internal monologues of the young women, characters like the charismatic and destructive Lisa or the tormented Daisy, creating a powerful, empathetic resonance that a film, for all its strengths, can only approach differently. The Broadway and off-Broadway landscape has recently been fertile ground for serious, psychologically complex adaptations, from ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ to ‘Next to Normal,’ proving audiences are hungry for productions that tackle mental health with nuance and artistic bravery. This project, with Mann’s musical genius at its core, is poised not just to be another adaptation, but a vital, new conversation piece, reframing Kaysen’s classic story for a modern audience that is increasingly open to discussing the complexities of the human mind, all from the unique, intimate, and immediate perspective that only live theater can provide.

#featured

#Aimee Mann

#Girl Interrupted

#stage musical

#adaptation

#Susanna Kaysen

#theatre

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