FROM: MITCH SCHNEIDER/AMANDA CAGAN/ LATHUM NELSON
ALANIS MORISSETTE SET FOR PAY-PER-VIEW CONCERT SPECIAL FEB 19 AND THEATRICAL STAGE DEBUT IN NEW YORK IN MARCH AMID GRAMMY AND JUNO NOMS; ON THE HEELS OF HER NEARLY TWO MILLION-SELLING 'MTV UNPLUGGED' ALBUM, ALANIS WILL RETURN TO THE STUDIO THIS SUMMER A pay-per-view special; Grammy and Juno nominations; her upcoming theatrical stage debut in a New York stage production; and a summer return to the recording studio--all of this is on tap for ALANIS MORISSETTE.
Nominated for a "Best Female Vocal Pop Performance" Grammy for "Thank U," ALANIS will be seen Sunday, February 19 in a pay-per-view concert. It was filmed last summer during the critically acclaimed and successful "51 Weeks Tour" with Tori Amos, who will also appear in the special (check local cable listings for more details).
In other news, the singer, songwriter and musician was just nominated for five Juno Awards (the Canadian equivalent of the Grammys)--the most nominations of any solo artist this year. The categories: "Best Album" (for her seven million-selling SUPPOSED FORMER INFATUATION JUNKIE), "Best Female Artist," "Best Songwriter" ('Thank U,' 'Unsent,' 'So Pure'), "Best Pop/Adult Album (SUPPOSED FORMER INFATUATION JUNKIE) and Best Video ('So Pure,' which she directed). The Juno Awards will take place March 12.
Next, ALANIS will make her theatrical stage debut--between March 21 through April 2--performing pieces of the critically hailed The Vagina Monologues. This follows her recent film debut in Kevin Smith's Dogma. At the Westside Theatre in New York, ALANIS will be among a trio of women--the others are Andrea Martin and Shirley Knight--who will illuminate Eve Ensler's play that is based on interviews with a diverse group of women. Praised by the New York Times as "alternately hilarious and deeply disturbing," it explores the humor, power, pain, wisdom, outrage, mystery and excitement hidden in vaginas, as described by the show's producers. Other actresses featured at different times in the play's run include Winona Ryder, Marisa Tomei, Gina Gershon and Rosie Perez among others.
Meantime, ALANIS is anticipated to return to the recording studio this summer to record a new album, with a projected release date of early 2001. It will follow the worldwide success of her MTV Unplugged album (Maverick Recording Co.), which has sold nearly two million copies and earned vast accolades. Commented Vic Garbarini in the (March) issue of Playboy:
"Add Alanis Morissette's 'MTV Unplugged' to the short list of great 'Unplugged' performances. Framed mostly by acoustic guitars, piano and strings, Alanis' naked songs of spiritual struggle and rebirth are even more cathartic than the electric versions on her two multi-platinum albums. There are four superb new tracks, including a classy cover of the Police's 'King Of Pain.'...The first single, 'That I Would Be Good,' is the standout track--a near miracle."
Finally, ALANIS' Jagged Little Pill was recently cited by Billboard as "Album Of The Decade," a distinction based on sales and airplay in the '90s.
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