Constellation’s ‘Head Over Heels’ is a Joyous Go-Go’s Romp
Constellation's bustling "Head Over Heels" serves classical romance and queer self-discovery with a giddy Go-Go's twist.
Head Over Heels – Photo: DJ Corey
To enter the fanciful kingdom of Arcadia, in Constellation Theatre’s delightful, if uneven, musical romantic-comedy Head Over Heels, is to fall in love again with the music of The Go-Go’s. If you ever loved them, and were around in the ’80s when the quintet was fresh and riding high on the charts, the songs sound solid here, maybe in need of a little octane.
The reputed most successful all-female rock band of all time provide the music for this madcap romance, conceived and with a book by Avenue Q Tony-winner Jeff Whitty, based on Sir Philip Sidney’s 16th-century classic, and adapted by D.C. native James Magruder.
In the 20th century, The Go-Go’s were a band that undoubtedly, as they famously sang, had the beat of female liberation and youthful rebellion. They also simply knew how to lay down a good beat the kids could dance to, and that they’re still dancing to, with vigor, in director Allison Arkell Stockman’s bustling production.
The band, led by music director Walter “Bobby” McCoy on piano, rocks tight beats throughout, supplying a dependable groove for Maurice Johnson’s bubbly choreography. From the first steps of opener “We’ve Got the Beat,” Stockman’s cast attacks the choreo gleefully, and with a consistency that’s somewhat lacking in the vocals, which range from rock to R&B in style.
The singers all sound lovely, with one or two exceptions, but also tentative about really tearing up these songs. Portraying members of the royal court of Arcadia, the whole company trades off lines in “We’ve Got the Beat,” but it’s not until the second number, “Beautiful,” sung by Julia Link’s Pamela, that the potency of the vocals matches the music.
Haughty and vain to a hilarious degree, Pamela is the elder of two daughters — along with Philoclea, played by Ariana Caldwell — of Arcadia’s short-sighted King Basilius (Oscar Salvador, Jr.) and understanding Queen Gynecia (Fran Tapia). While young Philoclea, deemed “plain” by her sister, wishes to wed her humble shepherd Musidorus (Harrison Smith), picky Pamela, who, of course, must wed first, rejects suitors almost out of habit.
Ensemble members Jordan Essex, Caroline Graham, and Cristen Young definitely don’t hold back from delivering the slapstick of Pamela’s overly ardent suitors. The trio, in various roles, and occasionally plying bits of puppetry, are generally a treat to behold serving from the show’s margins, bopping around in the background, or as, say, harmonizing sheep backing up Smith’s antic romantic shepherd singing “Mad About You.”
The serpent chorus of Snakelettes backing Nico Ochoa’s charming Pythio, nonbinary Oracle of Delphi, on “Vision of Nowness” are just so-so in the execution, but the concept lands.
Frank Labovitz and his costume team make infectious fun of all the ensemble’s getups, and gorgeously lush trappings of the royals’ wardrobes. Scenic designer Samuel Klaas doesn’t manage the same magic, offering as Arcadia an overgrown garden hung with lanterns and limp foliage.
The already crowded-looking set appears particularly cramped in group numbers like “Our Lips Are Sealed,” with focus bouncing between several couples posted across the stage. As with “Beautiful,” the musical numbers focused on fewer moving parts register more successfully.
The comedy, as broad as a barn at times, hits more than it misses, in part due to amusing cross-dressing, costumed mayhem, and even when we can’t see the costumes. In a suggestive shadow play set to “Heaven Is a Place on Earth,” featuring, unbeknownst to them, Basilius and Gynecia, the show finds the beat and the worldly, witty voice of Whitty’s book.
Eventually, the two-act tale follows its wits to a truly beautiful coming out for a sapphic sister, who’s celebrated for knowing and living her truth. Though death ultimately rears its head, there’s also hope for a more tolerant and generous Arcadia, and that just might feel like heaven on earth.
Head Over Heels (★★★☆☆) runs through June 1 at the Source Theatre, 1835 14th St. NW, with a BLACKOUT Night performance on May 23, and Pride Night performances on May 22 and 30 featuring guest drag artists and discounted drinks at Trade Bar after the show. Tickets are $24 to $56. Call 202-204-7741, or visit www.constellationtheatre.org.
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