Go-Gos musical HEAD OVER HEELS will open at Broadway’s Hudson this summer

[CurtainPullDowner]

So, any word on who is writing the book now?

[broadwaysfguy]

going to the first preview tomorrow with an open mind....

will report in

[bear88]

broadwaysfguy and anyone else seeing it Tuesday,

Warn me off if it's a disaster, as I may end up seeing it Wednesday unless it's a fiasco.

As for Vietgone, I'll root for no babies Tuesday night.

[antonijan]

New writer and adapter is James Magruder according to https://sfcurran.com/the-currant/interviews/james-magruder/

[CurtainPullDowner]

2 things:

1. Never mentions that he is not the original book writer.

 

2. I wonder what kind of laugh you get from the "me too" reference?

[newintown]

I find it ... odd, to say the least, that Magruder never once mentions that he's adapting Jeff Whitty's original creation. At least Whitty is officially credited elsewhere as the original creator of the piece, but it seems that the present creative team is trying to expunge him from the record. It's always sad when show folk behave as sleazily as corporate folk.

[Sondheimite]

Sadly, Broadway IS corporate folk now.  Which is why I despise commercial theatre 

[Kad]

Whitty is also making it very clear he has no involvement in the Broadway production. His Twitter bio: "Let it be known: I have nothing creatively to do with the musical property called “Head Over Heels” that is mounting a Broadway stage."

More barbed is his bio on PlayOnSF.org:

"Jeff Whitty is the author of The Old Head Over Heels, the legal production of which occurred in Ashland, Oregon in 2015. He has since been adapted."

[antonijan]

Maybe he got "bought out" and he cannot talk about it

[newintown]

The article has been edited to acknowledge Whitty’s contribution. I wonder if there were complaints.

[haterobics]

antonijan said: "Maybe he got "brought out" and he cannot talk about it"

That doesn't seem like the bio of someone not allowed to talk about it.

[haterobics]

If anyone at tonight's first preview can let me know if front row is too close/too high, looking to book seats to this soon...

[Wayman_Wong]

For the record, the official ''Head Over Heels'' website credits Whitty: ''Conceived and original book by Tony Award winner Jeff Whitty; adapted by James Magruder.''

The website also refers to Whitty's ''wickedly funny original book.''

 http://www.headoverheelsthemusical.com/

Different story on the website of the Curran Theatre in S.F.

No Whitty listed under Creatives. Just Magruder for Adaptation.

https://sfcurran.com/head-over-heels/?gclid=CjwKCAjwwbHWBRBWEiwAMIV7Ewrk2AuCUPTCZ3UcPaYn-8h1ajrVxXW0-umK6GEzDmGMkKLvekXzIBoC248QAvD_BwE

[antonijan]

It's a witty book!

[Wayman_Wong]

''I feel Whitty, oh, so Whitty ...''

[Fetus]

Nervously excited to read the reports of this one, it has a pretty interesting concept and a solid cast. If the early word of mouth is good enough I might grab a ticket for the first preview on Broadway.

[antonijan]

Jeremy Kushnier and Rachel York have a great duet on the 2nd act

[broadwaysfguy]

i left at intermission for only the second time in over 200 shows

The main reason i left was i just wasnt enjoying it very much and wasnt entertained-the story itself was not interesting or clever, the show is set in a mythical land where everyone speaks in quasi old english (very annoying), I didnt get to know like or care about any of the characters (felt like wooden stereotypes), most of the gogos songs in the first act were album cuts i didnt recognize or enjoy ( and im a gogos fan), and the shoehorning of songs to fit the story was painful. trying to find pluses there was some good dancing and a few funny lines/site gags, and one support character playing the shepard/amazon was funny and getting most of what few laughs there were. the audience seemed to enjoy it more than i did, although I did see several others walk out in the first act and in the bathroom line during intermission people were trashing the show pretty hard.   

I saw lestat pre broadway and this reminded me of that- it had good actors, it had good people involved and it just wasnt interesting or satisfying.

Maybe my filters are skewed because I just came back from nyc last month after seeing the bands visit, and seeing hamilton and dear evan hansen,both again (the very very best of musical theatre) and this show is soooo far below what i feel good musical theatre is and can be.

spend money on this at your own peril. I know some people on this board like to see bad shows....if thats you then you are in for a treat.
 

[antonijan]

Looks like you may have vested interest in promoting the competition?

Just wondering.

[bear88]

antonijan, I think you caught broadwaysfguy. I'm not supposed to say this, but I am pretty sure he's got a financial interest in Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, and The Band's Visit - and he's coming on this board to criticize the opening night tryout of a bound-for-Broadway musical that might prompt all of those shows to close prematurely. Sure, that's pretty implausible. Someone should have found out by now. But he's got a golden touch when it comes to picking successful Broadway musicals, and the ability to keep his vested interest a secret even from the tight-knit Broadway community. How else to explain his oft-stated affection for the doomed and critically panned SF tryout of Roman Holiday, or the Berkeley Rep tryout of Ain't Too Proud, also on its way to Broadway? It's all a clever ruse, but you saw through it.

The other possibility, admittedly more mundane, is that he's a regular musical theater enthusiast in the SF Bay Area who really didn't like Head Over Heels. 

But that's boring. Go with the conspiracy theory. It's more fun.

[haterobics]

bear88 said: "antonijan, I think you caught broadwaysfguy. I'm not supposed to say this, but I am pretty sure he's got a financialinterestin Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, and The Band's Visit - and he's coming on this board to criticize the opening night tryout of a bound-for-Broadway musical that might prompt all of those showsto close prematurely. "

So you admit it! Finally!

[broadwaysfguy]

hi bear88 and antonijan
you are both musical theatre lovers in the bay area just like me. im not financially involved in any musicals because its a terrible investment with 1 out of five chance of recouping and thats once its made it to broadway.
i do feel like an investor given that i spend thousands a year to see shows

its always fascinating to me that you antonijan and i can see the same show and the same night and have profoundly different experiences.
i dont think its good or bad its the magic of artistic endeaver and how it affects each of us very personally viscerally and sometimes profoundly.

rainman wong loves to jab me for seeing roman holiday six times. hes very intellectually dishonest when he continually brings it up as a way to attempt to discredit my opinion on other shows.

i said openly i was rooting for roman holidays success, mainly because i absolutely love and admire cole porter and what a brilliant and clever songwriter he was. rainman always omits that i had huge issues with the show itself and recommended major changes b4 it would be ready for broadway if ever. i was not an investor or employee or contractor with the production(i know many posters are).

if i ever do have a vested interest in a show(not likely because its a bad investment) ill happily share it with the board because i have integrity something rainman and some other posters sadly lack.

thanks bear88 for your response it made me laugh.
you and i dont always see eye to eye on shows but i always reaspect your opinion and your thoughtful assessment of shows.

i truly wish for all musicals to be successful because it results in more investors willing to support the art form and more chances for a new truly great musical.

if i had creative suggestions which i thought could help make head over heels not have an early closing i would share them.

i am also a genuine huge go gos fan (another false equivalency rainman wong posed that i couldnt be a true go gos fan if i didnt stay for the second act) i still have their first album on vinyl. ive seen them live half a dozen times going back to their first headline tour off the first album when they played berkeley community and i have a ranked playlist of their top 40 songs. their music is pure early 80s LA and if anyone asked me about doing a musical using go gos music
my first question would be why? and my second response would be “so its a biopic of the rise and fall of a girl group?”

i fall in with many on this board that jukebox biopics can be great but jukebox shoehorns into an original story are mostly a really really really bad idea and bway is strewn with the corpses of these types of shoes.

[Wayman_Wong]

Broadwaysfguy, I take you at your word: You're a big musical theater lover. I don't believe you have a vested financial interest in what you see. But I've brought up the fact that you've seen ''Roman Holiday'' 6 times, because YOU brought it up multiple times. Not everyone sees the same show 6 times, especially if they have ''huge issues'' with it. So it's ironic of you warn off others from seeing ''Head Over Heels'' by saying: ''Spend your money on this at your own peril. I know some people on this board like to see bad shows.'' By walking out at intermission, you didn't exactly give this musical (at its FIRST preview!) a fair shake. Haven't you seen a show where Act II was better than Act I? Or where you initially didn't like a show, but it ultimately won you over by the curtain? I'm a big fan of Cole Porter, but I wasn't a fan of ''Roman Holiday.'' Still, I stayed for both acts, so I could judge it more even-handedly as a whole.

[antonijan]

When are the local official reviews coming in? I would guess after the Opening Night next Wed? I'll try to make my own

[bear88]

I'm a sucker for Sunday evening shows, which are rare in San Francisco, and the price ($23 including fees) can't be beat, so my wife and I will check this out tonight. Plenty of tickets are still available for the 7 p.m. performance.