The royal treatment
‘Head Over Heels’ a jukebox musical featuring the songs of The Go-Go’s
“Head Over Heels” is a jukebox musical about a royal family’s journey to save their kingdom from an oracle’s prophecy.
A mix of posh and punk, the story occurs in Elizabethan times, set to the music of the ’80s band The Go-Go’s.
The show will open at Albuquerque Little Theatre on Friday, May 31, running on weekends through June 16.
The story is an updated take on Philip Sidney’s “Arcadia,” rife with dramatic irony, comical courtship and mistaken identity.
“Head Over Heels” includes 18 hits by The Go-Go’s (Charlotte Caffey, Belinda Carlisle, Gina Schock, Kathy Valentine, Jane Wiedlin), including “We Got the Beat,” “Get Up and Go,” “Cool Jerk,” “Vacation,” “Our Lips Are Sealed,” “Lust to Love,” “Head Over Heels,” as well as Carlisle’s solo hits “Mad About You” and “Heaven is a Place on Earth.”
The royal family is accompanied by a mysterious, nonbinary Oracle named Pythio, who gives them prophecies that doom their kingdom. The family takes off on a journey filled with mistaken identities, jealousy, sexual awakening, scandal and self-discovery.
“A lot of the music of The Go-Go’s has been woven into the plot,” said director Brian Clifton. “The very first thing we hear is the entire cast is on stage with ‘We Got the Beat.’ ”
The Oracle warns that the kingdom has become too rigid and traditional. He gives the king four prophecies:
“Thy younger daughter will bring a liar to bed. He thou shall forbid, she he’ll then assume.”
“Thou elder daughter will consent to wed. She’ll consummate her love but with no groom.”
“Thou with thy wife, adult’ry shall commit”
“You will meet and make way for a better king.”
“It’s a very fun story,” Clifton said. “It’s very LGBTQ and feminist. It’s all about the women.
“The moral for this is accepting yourself for who you are.”
“It strangely works,” Clifton continued. “That music is so poppy and so fun. This infuses it with that ’80s rock ‘n’ roll music that most people know.”
The show is the last of ALT’s 94th season.
“Head Over Heels” opened on Broadway in 2018 and closed in 2019.
James Magruder is the writer of the Broadway adaptation, which is based on an original book written by “Avenue Q” Tony winner Jeff Whitty for the musical’s 2015 premiere at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.