Head Over Heels - Music by the Go-Go's

[s1conrad]

I saw the new musical 'Head Over Heels' last night at the Curran in SF--and I was totally delighted by the show. I went in not knowing what to expect. I assumed it would be a 'Jersey Boys' or 'Beautiful' biopic of the 1980's girls band, but it was nothing of the sort. It's a clever spin on a 1690 prose play 'The Arcadians'. The setting is far-off kingdom that the Oracle of Delphi has doomed. The king and his court embark on a long odyssey to fight off the curse. Along the way there are trysts, disguised characters and welling passions (with some girl-on-girl action) all set the songs of the Go-Go's. A lot of familiar tunes are cleverly woven into the plot: Mad About You, Heaven is a Place on Earth, Vacation, Our Lips are Sealed, and the show's main theme We Got the Beat.

 

The first act rolls at a fast pace both musically and visually. The script is performed in iambic pentameter (think Shakespeare)--which gives the play extremely funny, bawdy dialogue. The second act doesn't have quite the tempo of the first act, but it's still engaging. The costumes and sets are outstanding, but the BEST part is the stellar cast: Bonnie Milligan (as the capricious Princess Pamela) steals every scene she's in; drag queen Peppermint as the Oracle channels Grace Jones, and Andrew Durand, with his chiseled features and knack for physical comedy, is exceptional in his dual role as a love-lorn shepherd and warrior Amazonian.

 

I wasn't a huge fan of the Go-Go's back in the day--but 'Head Over Heels' gave me an appreciation for their music. Last night's performance received a rousing Standing O. The show is Broadway bound. For you lucky NYers, if you're looking for a light, upbeat musical comedy with a terrific cast, this is the show for you.

[bostonman]

Our Lips are Sealed

 

Or, "I Love Cecile," as I used to hear the title of the song back in the day lol. (cf. the term "mondegreen.")

 

I was never a huge Go-Go's fan either, but they do write energetic dance tunes that stick in your head successfully. Their lyrics are usually very generic, which of course means they can easily be shoehorned into any story lol. But one could say the same for the ABBA songs in Mamma Mia (well, no - actually those lyrics and songs are far better, IMO)...

 

But I do have friends in the biz who are very excited about this show - not that it's meant to be anything groundbreaking, but it does sound like it could be miles better than this season's Margaritaville and Summer.

 

But - I would love it if the show had a character named Cecile - then I'd know that I had that misheard lyric correct after all.

[Nvr2Thick]

Or, "I Love Cecile," as I used to hear the title of the song back in the day lol. (cf. the term "mondegreen.")

 

"Alice the seal."

 

[edjames]

The reviews are in, at least from the NYTimes and NYPost, and they are not good:

 

Ben Brantley's review in the NYTimes rambles on a bit too much for a cut and paste, so check out the link to read his commentary:

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/26/theater/head-over-heels-broadway-review-go-gos.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Farts&action=click&contentCollection=arts&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront

 

The NYPost was a little more succinct:

 

Go-Go’s musical ‘Head Over Heels’ hasn’t got the beat

Hudson Theatre, 141 W. 44th St.; 855-801-5876. 135 minutes, one intermission.

 

Intermission, all I ever wanted!

 

The new musical “Head Over Heels,” which opened Thursday on Broadway, takes the songs of ’80s American girl group the Go-Go’s, plops them in a British story from the 16th century and adds a bunch of modern, self-referential jokes. It’s an idea that’s so crazy, it just might work!

 

It doesn’t. This indulgent show is wackier than it is fun, and elicits more “huh?” than “ha”. Worse, it treats the catchy pop music like a side of spinach.

 

The confusion kicks off with the opening number, “We Got the Beat,” which also features the best dancing you’ll see all night. We’re told that Arcadia, the fictional land where the show is set, has “got the beat” — the “beat” presumably being social stability and wellness. Fine. These are the narrative gaps you’ve gotta fill when watching “Head Over Heels.”

 

Soon the King of Arcadia (Jeremy Kushnier) has an ominous meeting with the Oracle of Delphi (the splendid drag queen Peppermint) and hears some downer prophecies: His daughters will be stuck with awful suitors, his wife (Rachel York) will cheat on him and his land will be overtaken. He’s lost the beat. Get it? So, the King and Co. head out of town to the country to escape his sad fate.

 

His two daughters, the vain Pamela (Bonnie Milligan) and the plain Philoclea (Alexandra Socha), are the best part of the show. Milligan has a powerful voice and a wicked sense of humor, and Socha brings some much needed sincerity to the cacophony of crazy. It could use a whole lot more.

 

One suitor, a poor shepherd named Musidorus (Andrew Durand), is told to pack his tent, so he dresses like an Amazon to follow Philoclea around undetected. Mistaken identity antics ensue, and Durand, who looks a lot like Bill Hader, keeps them amusing.

 

The sex-and-disguise plot is zany, if familiar. There’s a little bit of “Twelfth Night” here, some “Into the Woods” there, some “Xanadu” everywhere. But the dialogue is grating. The book, originally by Jeff Whitty and James Magruder, is marred by olde English speak. There are enough thees, thous and wherefores for the Wars of the Roses. The uppity chitchat is the musical’s main gag, and it’s extremely tedious. You’ll wish their lips were sealed.

 

Most people don’t buy tickets for the quips: They come for the Go-Go’s, and hits like “Vacation,” “Cool Jerk,” “Mad About You” and Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven Is A Place On Earth.” But unlike the ABBA catalog that drove “Mamma Mia!,” these songs are a bad fit for theatrical storytelling. They begin at one place, plant their feet and stay there, both musically and lyrically. Electric Light Orchestra gave us more detail and movement in “Xanadu,” which is a low, low bar.

 

If the songs — perfect for the dance floor — can’t push the tale along, then at least they can provide some opportunities for big, glittery dance numbers, right? Nope. There really aren’t any exhilarating musical moments in director Michael Mayer’s slapdash production. “Vacation” is reduced to a solo, with a few ensemble members jumping out of fabric ocean waves, as if they were in a dance recital.

 

Stumped Go-Go’s fans will want to get up and go.

 

AND, NYPost Columnist, Michael Reidel predicts a bleak future for this show with only a small advance and dismal daily box office revenue:

 

Gwyneth Paltrow’s musical ‘Head Over Heels’ is on thin ice

 

Broadway producer Gwyneth Paltrow skipped Thursday night’s opening of her show, “Head Over Heels,” the Go-Go’s musical, at the Hudson Theatre. Word is she stayed in Montauk, making wedding plans with fiancé Brad Falchuk.

 

But she might want to head back soon before “Head Over Heels” posts its closing notice, making it the first disaster of the new season.

 

The $10 million show has a paltry advance of less than $1 million and is selling about $35,000 in tickets a day.

 

Only rave reviews will keep it afloat. But don’t look to The Post, where reviewer Johnny Oleksinski says “Head Over Heels” reduces its catchy pop music to “a side of spinach.”

 

Around Broadway, predictions of doom and gloom are everywhere.

 

“The numbers are not sustainable,” a production source says. “There’s just no interest in this show.”

 

The Ambassador Theatre Group, which owns the Hudson, is already looking for a new show to replace it, so the theater won’t sit empty.

 

But Christine Russell, the show’s lead producer, says she’s not giving up yet.

 

“I don’t dispute anything you’ve heard, and I wish our numbers were stronger,” she told me. “But we always knew this would be a word-of-mouth show. The feedback we’re getting from audiences is that the show is smart and funny and relevant, and it confirms the passion we’ve had for ‘Head Over Heels’ from the beginning.”

 

Passion is all well and good, but it’s money you need to keep a struggling show going until — and if — word of mouth kicks in and ticket sales take off. Does Russell have the money?

 

“We have been committed from Day 1 to this show,” she says. “And we’re still committed. We use the Go-Go’s catalog, but this is an original musical. And I can say that the feedback we’ve had from audiences is encouraging.”

 

“Head Over Heels” is based on “Arcadia,” a 16th-century prose poem by Philip Sidney.

 

He was a nice guy, I’m told, but the only people who read his poems today are getting graduate degrees in English literature at Oxford.

 

And therein may lie the problem: This is a show that aims to be arty but wants to sell tickets to Go-Go’s fans who, I assure you, aren’t getting graduate degrees in English literature at Oxford.

 

The show has plenty of sex — straight, gay and otherwise — as well as cross-dressing. It also features the first transgender woman ever to originate a principal role on a Broadway stage: Peppermint, of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”

 

But with its high-brow English poetical roots and thees and thous, it also feels like Shakespeare in the Park or something you’d see at London’s National Theatre.

 

“We’ve never been able to figure out how to sell this show,” says a production source. “Maybe we should have sold the sex.”

 

We’ll see how things play out for “Head Over Heels.”

 

If it needs money to fight for survival, Paltrow has it. Her lifestyle Web site Goop is worth $250 million.

 

Or she could join the cast. I saw her years ago in “As You Like It” at the Williamstown Theatre Festival.

[RyanDean]

The show's not perfect but Brantley's review is...him at his lazy worst.

Sarah Holdren at Vulture does right by the show.

http://www.vulture.com/2018/07/theater-the-go-gos-go-to-grad-school-in-head-over-heels.html