1/5/2024 0 Comments Script it for stclareI’m aware that many biographical jukebox shows - such as the recent Temptations-focused “Ain’t Too Proud” at the Ahmanson - were criticized for weak scripts, even as they understandably focused more on providing drama via moments of musical memories than through biography. They also were a group that was formed and became famous in LA. They were the first all-female group to reach the top of the charts while performing their own songs and playing their own instruments. I soon concluded that this production might have been a lot more interesting if it had focused on the story of the Go-Go’s. Jenny Koons and Sam Pinkleton co-directed, co-choreographed and co-conceived this version of “Head Over Heels.” But it’s the descendant of a three-hour (!) version at Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2015, then shorter adaptations in San Francisco and on Broadway - which were conceived by Jeff Whitty and later adapted by James Magruder.Īfter struggling with my lack of interest in the ostensible narrative, I went home and refreshed my memories of the Go-Go’s online. But in 2021 it’s not a particularly fresh message, especially when the characters expressing it are so superficially sketched. Then we gradually perceive a more-or-less contemporary message, about gender identity and orientation. At first, it seems almost ridiculously remote from either today’s LA or the ‘80s era of the Go-Go’s hits. Instead, the story is about royal-family shenanigans in a long-ago and faraway fantasyland, as filtered through Elizabethan syntax. So the connections to the Go-Go’s stop between the songs. Unfortunately, the non-musical script for “Head Over Heels” is derived from Philip Sidney’s “ The Arcadia ,” a late-1500s English literary hit. The designers create a convincing disco-fantasy atmosphere with 21st-century costumes, sets and lighting. The cast and the band deliver most of the hits with extra punctuation marks. ![]() As in many jukebox shows, the music and the design are the main attractions. With a jukebox-style score derived from Go-Go’s hits from the 1980s, “Head Over Heels” offers its own musical kicks. It’s a kick to see a company with a grand old playhouse breaking away, at least for a few weeks, from its usual proscenium staging (as this company did on a much smaller scale in 2018 with “The Pirates of Penzance”) while also breaking away from its recent COVID slumber. Might this reflect an effort to incorporate some social distancing? Perhaps, but of course vaccination cards are checked at the door. So the total audience capacity at “Head Over Heels” is 362, down from the playhouse’s normal 640. The usual upper gallery still offers seats, for 190, looking westward. Meanwhile, the traditional stage itself has been turned into a raked lower-level seating space that accommodates 72, facing eastward. However, the reward for remaining upright is more freedom to move and groove, closer to the action. Anyone with these tickets will stand, not sit, throughout the show - so strong heels might help. That’s especially true if they grab some of the 100 general-admission tickets that are available at each performance, providing entrance into the central first-floor audience area. Looking eastward at the reconfigured Pasadena Playhouse during ‘Head Over Heels.’ Alaska 5000, left, and Lea DeLaria as the royal couple.
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