Jagged Little Pill's Lauren Patten Wants to Star in a Queer The Last Five Years

Before the COVID-19 pandemic caused Broadway to close its doors, Lauren Patten was earning nightly standing ovations belting out the show-stopping Alanis Morissette song "You Oughta Know" as Jo in Jagged Little Pill. Now, Patten is in quarantine with her family and reminiscing about her time on stage. "It's been brutal," she said to Paul Wontorek in a recent episode of #LiveatFive: Home Edition about her time away from the stage. "There's always been something fruitful from taking a break and then coming back—we've done that multiple times. Although we don't know when we'll come back, I hope that something more creative will come out of it."

Jagged Little Pill uses the music of Morissette to tell the original story of the Healy family and the complicated issues that surround them. Patten says she is still not used to the rapturous audience reaction she gets for "You Oughta Know," the explosive anthem about betrayal. "It's a feeling unlike any other, " Patten said about the response to the number. "It's so rare in the theater for that to happen and it's just this huge outpouring of energy. It's not something you get used to. And if I ever do get used to it, someone needs to slap me in the face."

Patten made her Broadway debut in Fun Home, initially understudying both Medium Alison and Joan before taking over the role of Medium Alison full-time. "We actually just had a Fun Home reunion Zoom call," she said. "I think it was just an extremely special group of people. You don't even understand how much I want to older Alison. Big Alison has my favorite songs in the show and I would die to do that. Another dream role would to do a queer version of The Last Five Years and play Jamie."

Both of Patten's Broadway credits are for playing queer characters looking for acceptance and love, which has resulted in the actor receiving hundreds of notes and messages from audience members saying she helped them come out or feel represented. "It means more than I can say," Patten said. "It's why I do this job. Obviously, it's very fun to rock and belt out, but ultimately the reason that I've committed my own life to doing this work is because I think that there is something about storytelling—and particularly storytelling in the theater—that has the capacity to change lives. To know that both my performance, but also the show as a whole, gives people the space to feel seen and comfortable as who they are, is why I do my job. I just can't wait to get back on that stage."

Watch Patten show off her cat and more in the full episode below!