The 2021 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album went to the Broadway cast recording for Jagged Little Pill. The award was presented at the Grammys Premiere Ceremony March 14 prior to CBS’ primetime broadcast of the 63rd annual event.
Sharing the win for Jagged Little Pill were the album’s principal vocalists—Kathryn Gallagher, Celia Rose Gooding, Lauren Patten, and Elizabeth Stanley—along with producers Neal Avron, Pete Ganbarg, Tom Kitt, Michael Parker, Craig Rosen, and Vivek J. Tiwary. Songwriters Alanis Morissette and Glen Ballard were not considered part of the nomination, as less than 51 percent of the album features new music; the rest comes from their pre-existing catalog.
Musical supervisor and orchestrator Kitt accepted the award on the team's behalf. "To all my fellow theatre artists," he said during his speech, "stay strong, stay hopeful, and I can't wait to be back on our stages with you again."
Nominated alongside Jagged Little Pill in the category were the London cast recordings of Amélie and The Prince of Egypt, Off-Broadway's Little Shop of Horrors and Soft Power, and David Byrne's American Utopia.
Jagged Little Pill opened December 5, 2019, at Broadway’s Broadhurst Theatre, releasing its cast recording the following day from Atlantic Records. A physical release dropped January 24, 2020.
READ: 9 Things You Didn’t Know About Broadway’s Jagged Little Pill
The show scored 15 Tony Award nominations last October, including Best Musical, Best Performance for the four principal vocalists along with featured players Derek Klena and Sean Alan Krill, Best Orchestrations for Tom Kitt and Best Book for Diablo Cody.
Also among the winners was the Metropolitan Opera's production of the Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, which took home Best Opera Recording. Angel Blue, who sang the role of Bess in the 2019 production and on the album, accepted the award during the virtual Premiere Ceremony on behalf of her fellow principal vocalists Frederick Ballentine, Denyce Graces, Latonia Moore, and Eric Owens; conductor David Robertson; and producer David Frost.
