Head Over Heels is a "jukebox" musical comedy with music and lyrics from the catalog of The Go-Go's. Jeff Whitty conceived the show and wrote the original book, which was then adapted by James Margruder. The plot of the show is somewhat based on The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia written by Sir Philip Sidney in the 16th century, Head Over Heels opened on Broadwayon July 26, 2018 at the Hudson Theatre.
Plot[]
Head Over Heels is a jukebox musical that adapts the plot of The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia, 16th-century prose poem by Sir Philip Sidney.
Productions[]
Oregon Shakespeare Festival (2015)[]
The show made its world premiere at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon on June 3, 2015. The production ran until October 10 and was directed by Ed Sylvanus Iskandar.
In 2016, Michael Mayer replaced Iskandar as director. Also joining the re-imagined creative team were music supervisor Tom Kitt (who previously worked with Mayer on American Idiot), and James Margruder to adapt Whitty's original libretto.
San Francisco (2018)[]
The show played the Curran Theatre in San Francisco between April 10 and May 6, 2018. The production was billed as the official pre-Broadway engagement. For this production, Michael Mayer directed.
Broadway (2018)[]
The show began previews at the Hudson Theatre on June 23, 2018. The official opening took place on July 26, 2018.
Arianne Phillips is the show's costume designer, and Spencer Liff is the choreographer. Kevin Adams did the lighting design, Andrew Lazarow did the projection design, Kai Harada did the sound design, and Julian Crouch (de) did the scenic and puppet design.
Making her Broadway debut in the role of Pythio, Peppermint became the first transgender woman to originate a principal role on Broadway.
Musical numbers[]
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Characters and original cast[]
| Character | Oregon (2015) | San Francisco (2018) | Broadway (2018) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Musidorus | Dylan Paul | Andrew Durand | |
| Mopsa | Britney Simpson | Taylor Iman Jones | |
| Basilius | Michael Sharon | Jeremy Kushnier | |
| Pamela | Bonnie Milligan | ||
| Pythio | N/A | Peppermint | |
| Dametas | David Kelly | Tom Alan Robbins | |
| Philoclea | Tala Ashe | Alexandra Socha | |
| Gynecia | Miriam A. Laube | Rachel York | |
Reception[]
Writing for Deadline, Greg Evans summed up his impression of the musical as "occasionally amusing, occasionally cloying", expressing disappointment that many popular Go-Go's songs appeared to have been flattened over the years the musical spent in development. In Entertainment Weekly, Kelly Connolly viewed the show more favorably, praising "the charismatic cast" and Michael Mayer's "joyful production"; she gave the A- score overall.
The New York Times's critic Ben Brantley's review drew criticism as transphobic and misgendering of Peppermint's character. The Times subsequently edited the review and Brantley apologized for it, writing that he had tried to "reflect the light tone of the show".