‘HEAD OVER HEELS’: Taylor Iman Jones & the company. Photo: Joan Marcus

HEAD OVER HEELS
Songs by The Go-Go’s
Based on The Arcadia by Sir Philip Sidney
Conceived & Original Book by Jeff Whitty
Adapted by James Magruder
Music supervision, orchestrations & arrangements by Tom Kitt
Choreographed by Spencer Liff
Directed by Michael Mayer
The Hudson Theatre
141 West 44th Street
(855) 801-5876
www.HeadOverHeelsTheMusical.com

By Scott Harrah

Being an aging Generation X member and a longtime Go-Go’s fan, I was initially thrilled when I heard about Head Over Heels, thinking it would be a fun chronicle of the ups and downs of Belinda Carlisle, Jane Wiedlin, Kathy Valentine and the rest of the L.A. all-female rock group from the 1980s. When I later realized the show is a jukebox musical featuring Go-Go’s music and a story based on Sir Philip Sidney’s obscure Elizabethan story The Arcadia, my expectations were low indeed. A tale set in a mythical land with a royal family facing the threat of its beloved “beat” sounds like an absurd premise for a jukebox musical showcasing the iconic hits of the most successful female rock band ever, but naysayers and skeptics beware: The show grows on you if you simply go along with it and accept it for nothing other than the mindless, splashy entertainment it is.

Brought to us by musical supervisor Tom Kitt, choreographer Spencer Liff, book writer Jeff Whitty and director Michael Mayer–the creative team behind such Broadway blockbusters as Hedwig and the Angry Inch and American Idiot, Spring Awakening and Avenue Q—Head Over Heels is a mixture of a 17^th century romance with gender-bending characters that often speak in Shakespearean iambic pentameter.

The plot revolves around the King of Arcadia, Basilus (Jeremy Kushnier) and Queen Gynecia (Rachel York) reigning over an ancient kingdom, along with their younger daughter Philocea (Alexandra Socha). The younger princess is romantically involved with a shepherd, Musidorus (Andrew Durand). Their older daughter Pamela (Bonnie Milligan) has a secret. The kingdom’s future is threatened when the non-binary Pythio, the Oracle of Delphi (Peppermint), unleashes a prophecy of doom.

Such Go-Go’s classics as “We Got the Beat,” “Vacation,” “Our Lips Are Sealed,” “Turn to You” and “Lust to Love,” along with the Belinda Carlisle solo hits “Mad About You” and “Heaven is a Place on Earth,” are woven into the wacky narrative of changing genders, revolution in the monarchy and sexual discovery.  The story’s humor is sometimes riddled with corny visual puns, such as the choreography for “Mad About You” when dancers are dressed as sheep. Get it? Ewes.

The show is a colorful mess, thanks to winning period costumes by Arianne Phillips and Spencer Liff’s frenetic choreography.

Some of the cast members are also refreshing. Jeremy Kushnier, Andrew Durand and Rachel York give good but mostly serviceable performances, and Peppermint as Pythio primarily serves up the boilerplate camp that made her (or they?) famous on “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” The true standouts here are the winning Bonnie Milligan as Pamela, the brash and zaftig young princess who gets many of the laughs, as well as Taylor Iman Jones as her gal pal Mopsa. Both Ms. Milligan and Ms. Jones are a sheer delight whenever they are onstage.

In comparison to some of the dreadful jukebox musicals recently, from the inane Escape from Margaritaville (featuring Jimmy Buffett songs) to the factually challenged Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, Head Over Heels is a vast improvement for the genre. Perhaps an escapist tale with Go-Go’s songs, full of characters exploring nonconformity and sexual freedom, is exactly the tonic needed in these troubled times.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published August 3, 2018
Reviewed at August 2, 2018 press performance.

‘HEAD OVER HEELS’: Rachel York & Jeremy Kushnier & the company. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘HEAD OVER HEELS’: Peppermint (center) & the ensemble. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘HEAD OVER HEELS’: Tom Alan Robbins & Jeremy Kushnier. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘HEAD OVER HEELS’: Andrew Durand & Alexandra Socha. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘HEAD OVER HEELS’: The ensemble. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘HEAD OVER HEELS’: The company. Photo: Joan Marcus

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‘PARAMOUR’: (left to right) Andrew & Kevin Atherton. © Cirque du Soleil Theatrical. Photo: Joan Marcus

PARAMOUR
Composers Bob & Bill, Guy Dubuc and Marc Lessard
Lyrics and Co-composer Andreas Carlsson
Creative Guide & Creative Director Jean-Francois Bouchard
Associate Creative Director, Scene Director & Story by West Hyler
Directed & conceived by Philippe Decoufle
Associate Creative Director, Acrobatic Designer & Choreographer Shana Carroll
Choreography by Daphne Mauger
Lyric Theatre
213 West 42nd Street
(877-250-2929), ParamourBroadway.com

By David NouNou

There are two ways of viewing Paramour: as a musical or a Cirque du Soleil presentation, a New Yorker or a tourist, a really bad musical or an eye-popping family treat. In order to fully appreciate this mash-up musical, you have to choose which category you want to fall into. There is no right or wrong answer and there is absolutely no shame in choosing either category.

It was about half an hour into the show when I decided to give up making any sense of the plot of Paramour and just go with the flow that I was at Cirque du Soleil and appreciate the camp with the spectacle. For where else would you get (pay attention here, it gets complicated) the leading lady of Paramour Ruby Lewis, playing the leading lady Indigo, filming a scene portraying Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra with the astounding aerialists (Andrew and Kevin Atherton) flying above her, replete with the entire cast dressed as Romans as she enters Rome and then the scene morphs into another classic as Indigo, and the entire cast rearranging their costumes and resume filming the barn-raising number from Seven Brides For Seven Brothers? You can’t make this stuff up; you have to see it to believe it, and you thought you were getting a thrill seeing Hamilton.

Cirque du Soleil is a unique experience into itself. To box it into a musical format is foolish, for the show to be truly engaging has to soar and be free of any restrictions. It is supposedly set in the golden age of Hollywood; to me that meant the 1930s. Here it is the ’30s, the ’40s, and the ’50s all in one jumble. AJ, the Hollywood director (Jeremy Kushnier), needs a new singing leading lady. He finds her late one night in an L.A. bar. She is Indigo (Ruby Lewis), who has a pianist and song collaborator, Joey (Ryan Vona). You guessed, it a love triangle develops. AJ wants to make a film that immortalizes Indigo; let’s see if I get them all right. She has to be Greta Garbo in Mata Hari, Fay Wray in King Kong, Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca, Eva Marie Saint in North By Northwest, Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot and Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra. Tall order indeed. Throughout this ridiculous plot, we have to be thankful for the Cirque du Soleil Company; along with the Atherton Twins, there is a specialty dance in Act II called “Love Triangle.” Three dancers (Martin Charrat, Myriam Deraiche and Samuel William Charlton) do a trapeze ballet that is absolutely mesmerizing and breathtaking; poetry in motion.

In addition to all the Cirque spectacles on stage, there are myriads of projections that are even more distracting than the story; and a finale that is right out of “Batman,” the 1960s TV series with Adam West, where people are just bouncing off rooftops in zoot suits.

My advice to you if you decide to go to Paramour and want to enjoy it to its fullest is this: Don’t go as a New Yorker; pretend you’re a tourist who happened to be at Duffy Square and just got your tickets. Enjoy the lights and noise of Times Square, marvel at the magnificence of the Lyric Theatre, go to your seat, (and this is very important) don’t take it seriously, don’t try to make sense of the show; you’ll just give yourself a headache. Just relax, go with the flow, and enjoy the madcap, zany camp spectacle known as Cirque du Soleil’s Paramour.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published June 3, 2016
Reviewed at press performance on June 2, 2016

‘PARAMOUR’: The cast. Photo: Richard Termine

‘PARAMOUR’: (left to right) Martin Charrat, Myriam Deraiche & Samuel William Charlton. © Cirque du Soleil Theatrical. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘PARAMOUR’: (left to right) Fletcher Blair Sanchez (background, in yellow jacket) & Joe McAdam. © Cirque du Soleil Theatrical. Photo: Joan Marcus

‘PARAMOUR’: (left to right) Reed Kelly & Sarah Meahi. © Cirque du Soleil Theatrical. Photo: Richard Termine

‘PARAMOUR’: (left to right) Martin Charrat, Myriam Deraiche, Samuel William Charlton. Photo: © Cirque du Soleil Theatrical. Photo: Joan Marcus

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