CATCO’s ‘Head Over Heels’ Go-Go songs romantic comedy at Riffe Center
CATCO’s got the beat.
Tuneful and joyful if a bit silly, “Head Over Heels” combines the Go-Go’s songbook with Elizabethan-era romantic comedy.
CATCO’s fizzy production, which opened Saturday night to applause and whoops of laughter in the Riffe Center, gives Greater Columbus our first chance to savor this recent Broadway musical about the many permutations of desire.
“We Got the Beat,” “Get Up and Go,” “Our Lips are Sealed,” “Mad About You” and “Beautiful” are just a few of the catchy songs belted out with raucous conviction.
Director Leda Hoffmann helps the performers ground their farcical hijinks with rapturous emotions as Arcadia’s royal family and servants venture into the woods to save their society’s traditional “beat.”
Period tale gets a modern-day update
‘Head Over Heels’ preview:Love and gender expression come alive in CATCO’s musical comedy ‘Head Over Heels’
The eight-member cast blends into a seamless ensemble bringing to thoroughly modern life a period fable that on Broadway generated buzz for its non-binary cast and characters.
CATCO’s whimsical version, suggested for mature audiences because of sexuality and brief violence, extends the musical’s circle of love with casting that embraces people of different body types, races and genders. The blithe theme: Everyone can find love and happiness — if we just have the courage to be who we are.
Kendra Lynn Lucas uses her powerhouse vocals and imposing presence to make queen Gynecia smart and strong.
As conniving King Basilius, Luke Bovenizer adds a pompous and hilarious edge reminiscent of a young Tim Curry.
Jordan Shafer exults in the strutting entitlement and passionate self-discovery of Pamela, the eldest princess (the role originated on Broadway by Ohio State University graduate Bonnie Milligan).
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Gentle giant Brian C. Gray finds empathetic masculinity and tenderness in a double role: Musidorus, the poor shepherd in love with younger princess Philoclea (sweet Summit J Starr), and the Amazon warrior he disguises himself as to accompany her.
Sha-Lemar Davis adds hints of greater self-awareness as Mopsa, Pamela’s devoted servant, while Liam Cronin projects comic anxiety as viceroy Dametas.
Caleb Mikayla Goins-Robinson exudes regal grace as Pythio, the oracle of Delphi whose strange prophecies set the plot in motion. Casting the local drag queen in such an aptly glitzy role, for her CATCO debut, was an inspired touch that pays off.
Go-Go’s music adds an upbeat appeal
Backed by rich orchestrations of the three-member onstage band, the cast glories in the Go-Go’s peppy harmonies.
The cast revels in the wordplay, innuendo and slapstick while finding laughs even in some silences.
Lori Wallace’s voguing choreography is simple but effective in adding quirky accents to the royal promenade.
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The stylish production enhances its fractured-fairy-tale atmosphere with Que Jones’ sparkly period costumes, Marty Wooster’s burnished lighting and Dan Gray’s elegant classical scenery.
Flamboyant but surprisingly intimate, the performances take advantage of Studio One’s transformation into a long thrust stage, with cabaret tables on both sides and other theatergoers seated at the now-not-so-far end.
The 1600s narrative, 1980s tunes and trendy 2020s gender politics don’t always mesh easily in this jukebox musical. Yet, given its hybrid layers, it works surprisingly well.
Will the oracle’s prophecies be fulfilled? What secrets will be revealed? Who falls in love with whom? My lips are sealed.
@mgrossberg1
At a glance
CATCO will present “Head Over Heels” at 2 p.m. March 20, March 27 and April 3; 7:30 p.m. March 24 and March 31; and 8 p.m. March 25-26 and April 1-2 in the Riffe Center’s Studio One, 77 S. High St. Masks and proof of vaccination or negative PCR COVID test are required. Tickets cost $45, or $20 (student rush). (614-469-0939, www.cbusarts.com)
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