Head Over Heels
The Go-Gos (Songs); Jeff Whitty (Book); James Magruder
(Adapter of Book)
Inspired by The
Arcadia by Sir Philip Sidney
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| The Cast of Head Over Heels" |
What happens when a Renaissance tale of royal romance
written in iambic pentameter collides head-on with the jukebox music of the
1980s all-female group, the Go-Go’s? And
what if twists and turns of the story inspired by Sir Philip Sidney’s The Arcadia (1580s) now include same-sex
love, gender-bending left and right, and a transgender Oracle of Delphi? Putting all that together along with
rainbow-colored mermaids, dancing (and definitely hunky) serpents and sheep,
and erotic shadow-box sex scenes means that New York had better batten down the
hatches for the musical that arrives at the Hudson Theatre June 23 and is now
in its final pre-Broadway run at San Francisco’s Curran Theatre! After receiving its world premiere at the
Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2015 with a book by Jeff Whitty and original
songs of the Go-Go’s, Head Over Heels has
been further adapted by James Magruder and lands as an adult fairy tale on the
Curran stage in a fabulously entertaining, eye-popping, foot-stomping musical
extravaganza that has 2019 Tony nomination written all over it.
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| The Cast of Head Over Heels |
As the subjects of Arcadia romp about on stage pumping arms
and bodies in multi directions and postures while singing, “Everybody get on
your feet, we got the beat, we know you can dance to the beat,” we in the
audience already find it hard to sit still as the contagious music of the
Go-Go’s has young and old alike rocking in their seats. The kingdom prides itself in its ability to move
in unison as if in a hyped-up aerobics class (part of the energetic, robotic,
body-stretching choreography that Spencer Liff has created for the entire
evening). However, there is a command
that the arrogant, controlling King Basilius has received from Zeus via the
mammoth mouth of a snake dropping from the sky to go see the new Oracle of
Delphi.
This larger than life Oracle (Is that a drag queen or drag
king or ??) declares that unless four things happen (none of which he wants),
Arcadia will lose its beat; and he, his kingdom. After all, what king wants to give up his
crown for a better king, get caught in an affair (but without being
unfaithful?), or marry off his older daughter (but to no groom)? His answer is not to tell anyone other than
his faithful viceroy, Dametas, but instead to take all the court on a journey
to slay what he now claims the Oracle has demanded: a golden stag. Singing “Get Up and Go” and shuffling
suitcases between themselves in a relay dance of sorts, the entire court heads
off to Bohemia.
Prior to all this drama, the king’s over-sized daughter,
Pamela, continues a four-year trend to reject suitors paraded before her by her
parents. Pamela, whose tall and wide
proportions are deemed the peak of beauty by all (and especially her), turns
her nose up at four, bare-chested Adonises with ripped abs. Bonnie Milligan belts a voice as big,
bountiful, and bold as her Pamela’s overall build as she sings, “Beautiful,”
accompanied by a chorus of picture-frame-carrying girls for constant
mirror-viewing of herself. As she
journeys to Bohemia with her family, she will begin discovering through a poem
that she writes that rather than a manly body, what she actually craves has
bodily curves and rhymes with “wits” and “china” (among other words not
suitable for this review!). Pamela will
become absolutely hysterical in her yearning as her desires turn into a tantrum
state, with Ms. Mulligan’s fiercely fabulous voice scoring big-time in “How
Much More” (... “can I take before I go crazy ... how much more heartache?”).
The focus of her secret attention becomes Mopsa, the
daughter of the king’s Viceroy, who takes a side trip to the Greek Island
Lesbos as Taylor Iman Jones sings a rousing “Vacation” while singing mermaids
swim among huge waves -- all part of the fun scenic design of Julian Crouch
that often reminds one of a kid’s pop-up story book. When the two finally discover their forbidden
attraction, both bring their diva voices to bear in singing a hyped-up,
electric-charged “Turn to You” – all the time other same-sex couples groove and
grind around them.
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| Peppermint and Ensemble Members |
But more illicit love is also in the air. A shepherd boy who tends to talk in tongues,
Musidorus, loves the younger royal daughter, Philoclea, who will declare in
clear speech his love for her with his (Andrew Durand’s) over-the-top (and
maybe the evening’s best) voice in “Mad about You” (with dancing, kinky sheep
as his back-up). It will take a
gender-changing intervention by Pythio -- the Oracle of Delphi played with
gusto and grind and marvelously bellowing vocal chords by Peppermint – for him
to join the royal train to Bohemia transformed into an Amazon warrior. That intervention will lead to several other
misplaced infatuations and mix-ups, including a humping, bumping nighttime and
nude tryst by King Bailius (Jeremy Kushnier) and Queen Gynecia (Rachel York) as
they sing in fine voice “Heaven is a Place on Earth.”
The one that Musidorus – shepherd now turned Amazon -- really
wants is Philoclea, the pretty, petite
sister Pamela cannot help but ridicule as too plain. As Philoclea, Alexandra Socha
brings a soft, melodic innocence to her vocals and an ability gradually to
intensify in feeling and volume to deliver in the end a powerful punch (as heard in “Good Girl”). When she believes love has passed her by and
sings quietly in grief that “nothing is gonna change” (“Here You Are”), she
blends her voice in intertwined harmonies with her mother to sing, “The love
you seek, the love you own, is it so fleeting?”
Michael Mayer directs eight leads and eight ensemble members
with an penchant to be just enough naughty to tantalize and tease and with
tongue enough in cheek to bring out all the chuckles the Shakespearean-sounding
dialogue and lyrics can elicit. Though
set sometime centuries ago, there is a current, timely edge to the story and
the approach the director takes, including one character declaring in the end
he is ready to let go of his 100% masculine side and to welcome that feminine
part of himself, preferring from here on to be referred to as “they” rather
than “he.”
The costumes of Arianne Phillips delightfully reside a bit
in Renaissance Greece and a lot in the 21st century, with designs
wild, wooly, and whimsical all at the same time. The lighting of Kevin Adams changes its
vibrant colors of orange, yellow, blue, and red to reflect the ebullient and
changing emotions of the moment; and characters’ sudden shifts and “ah-ha’s” of
discoveries explode in hilarious ways in light and sound through the artistry
of Mr. Adams and sound designer, Kai Harada.
The six-member, all-female band literally rocks in every respect under
the direction of Kimberly Grigsby, perched as they are in the heavens above
Arcadia.
In these and all other respects, Heads Over Heels appears ready to take the Great White Way by
storm. The music of the Go-Go’s will
thrill the group’s fans in the way it folds so easily into this fantasy story
of old with all its modern new twists.
And those (like I confess, myself) who somehow missed the Go-Go’s in the
early ‘80s will walk out and perhaps do what I did this morning during
breakfast: “Alexa, play some Go-Go’s
music.”
Rating: 5 E “MUST-SEE”
Head Over Heels
continue through May 6, 2018 at the Curran Theatre, , 445 Geary Street, San
Francisco. Tickets are available at https://sfcurran.com/ or by calling the Box
Office at 415-358-1220 between 10 a.m. and 6 pm. Monday through Friday.
Photo Credits: Joan Marcus
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