HEAD OVER HEELS at the Curran - Reviews

[bwayemma]

Posted: 4/11/18 at 12:21am

Let's get this thread started. First preview is tonight and opening night is April 18th. I'm seeing it this Friday.

[Sho-Tunes-R-Us]

Posted: 4/11/18 at 12:29am

Attending with my DGP group of 20+ on 4/26.  Eagerly awaiting first observations here.

[antonijan]

Posted: 4/11/18 at 12:41am

Intermission

Hoh brings the very definition of musical comedy to life! Brilliant and pleasing to the ear and the sight!

Check my tweets for pics

[notalwaysontime]

Posted: 4/11/18 at 1:54am

This makes me happy to hear! Wasn’t able to go tonight, too much aldulting to do, but aim hoping to go Thursday night or friday night, if not, early next week.

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 4/11/18 at 2:14am

left at intermission

words fail....

to the producers- what the **** were you thinking???

[bear88]

Posted: 4/11/18 at 2:40am

Hey broadwaysfguy,

As you tend to be forgiving of musical theater, even stuff you don't love, what prompted the walkout? (As I mentioned on the other thread, we were thinking of seeing it this week, possibly Wednesday night.)

By the way, I would highly recommend Vietgone at The Strand, which we saw Tuesday night. 

Updated On: 4/11/18 at 02:40 AM

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/11/18 at 9:21am

So, are the songs performed ala MAMMA MIA! - recreating the original sound of the songs, in this case recreating the original The Go-Gos sound, or are they re-interpreted/re-orchestrated?   

[haterobics]

Posted: 4/11/18 at 10:44am

Figures... I was hoping to get a sense of the show and whether to sort tickets today. And we have one rave and one walkout?

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 4/11/18 at 11:07am

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. tryong 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.

 

[newintown]

Posted: 4/11/18 at 11:18am

I admit that I am vaguely curious to hear how these lyrics fit into an Elizabethan story (my guess is that, as in Something Rotten, the "comedy" comes from mere anachronism):

See the people walking down the street
Fall in line just watching all their feet
They don't know where they wanna go
But they're walking in time

They got the beat
They got the beat
They got the beat, yeah
They got the beat

See the kids just getting out of school
They can't wait to hang out and be cool
Hang around 'til quarter after twelve
That's when they fall in line

They got the beat
They got the beat
Kids got the beat, yeah
Kids got the beat

Go-go music really makes us dance
Do the pony puts us in a trance
Do the watusi just give us a chance
That's when we fall in line

'Cause we got the beat
We got the beat
We got the beat, yeah
We got it

We got the beat
We got the beat
We got the beat
Everybody get on your feet
We got the beat
We know you can dance to the beat
We got the beat
Jumpin,' get down
We got the beat
Round and round and round
We got the beat
We got the beat...

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 4/11/18 at 11:35am

Broadwaysfguy, thanks for sharing your thoughts. But if you're a GoGo's fan, I'm surprised you didn't stay for Act II if only to see how the show used their other songs, and how it all played out. I almost never walk out of a musical because sometimes Act II is better, or there's a knockout number or performance in it. 

But you must have a higher tolerance than I. You saw ''Roman Holiday'' repeatedly, even though pretty much every critic panned it. You saw it 6 times, right? Or was it more? I could barely get through it once. By the way, whatever happened to that show?

Updated On: 4/11/18 at 11:35 AM

[tkts]

Posted: 4/11/18 at 12:30pm

I'm a Go Go's fan and this doesn't appeal to me at all. Keep in mind I hated Mamma Mia.  I may go anyway, but the Curran had better post a discount code as the theater is virtually empty for most performances I've checked.  The final matinee May 6th looks about 10% of capacity!  

[antonijan]

Posted: 4/11/18 at 2:48pm

I never really liked Shakespherean anything and poems in general but when I learned what Iambic Pentameter was...I kinda learned to appreciate the old English Shakespherean talk and it actually sounded more romantic where they were talking about love.

It would be a good show for Shakephere fanatics, for those dating...or in love...

And anyone who wants a good coming of age musical.

The only song I know of them growing up is Head Over Heels and I would get annoyed when I would pick the song in the jukebox and the tears for fears song would play...

But researching...I also kinda know We got the beat, mad about you, vacation, our lips are sealed....and the other songs not so familiar coz I didn't take notes.

It was not like Mamma Mia where there were a lot of "choruses" where the whole company were singing together...but rather

More solos, duets and more dancing.

A lot of belting and blending but I wanted more chorus

The opening was delicious...

The whole company singing together aka Mamma Mia.

But this cast is a powerhouse and well rounded.

The Royal Family is very talented and I'll add more details when I see it again next week on opening night.
 

Updated On: 4/11/18 at 02:48 PM

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 4/11/18 at 2:57pm

Goldstar San Francisco offers Orchestra/Side Loge for $79; Rear Orchestra/Mid-Mezzanine for $71; Mezzanine for $55; Balcony for $47. Service fees range from $7-$10.

And the Curran itself sells Rear Balcony for $29 apiece. 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/11/18 at 3:23pm

So, are the songs performed/sound like the original versions by The Go-G0s or re-orchestrated to fit the Shakespearean concept of the musical?  

[JSquared2]

Posted: 4/11/18 at 3:31pm

Spencer Liff is already the one to beat for Best Choreography in 2018-2019.  His dance work is phenomenal!  The show is incredibly entertaining (unless you go in wanting to hate it, like many here seem to be doing).  The "tone" and use of songs is probably closest in style to XANADU --- but still rather unique.  Some really good performances --- and a star making one from Bonnie Milligan.

[SFCowboy]

Posted: 4/11/18 at 4:47pm

I guess now I’m looking forward to seeing this, if only to see if it’s a trainwreck or if it has something going for it. I don’t usually care all that much for jukebox musicals. (The best of them – Mamma Mia, Jersey Boys, and Beautiful – were all just OK for me. I didn’t care for the new Temptations one.) But I’m always willing to give a show a chance.

Question for folks. I have tix for April 17, which is the last day of previews. I figured that the show would be set by then. But it occurs to me that previews for a pre-Broadway tryout might not have the same significance they do on Broadway. In New York, once a show opens, I think it’s usually pretty much set. After it officially opens in San Francisco, will they still likely be making significant changes? If so, maybe it would be better to see it later in the run?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 4/11/18 at 4:50pm

Lestat and Wicked are examples of two shows that underwent a decent amount of changes between SF and Broadway and during previews on Broadway.

[tkts]

Posted: 4/11/18 at 6:14pm

SFCowboy said: "Question for folks. I have tix for April 17, which is the last day of previews. I figured that the show would be set by then. But it occurs to me that previews for a pre-Broadway tryout might not have the same significance they do on Broadway. In New York, once a show opens, I think it’s usually pretty much set.Afterit officially opens in San Francisco, will they still likely be making significant changes? If so, maybe it would be better to see it later in the run?"

 

That's why I'm looking to see it the final weekend.  So far the Curran has only had discount codes for the previews.  

 

[antonijan]

Posted: 4/11/18 at 7:15pm

The songs are sung like the original...and the Elizabethan concept are mostly in dialogue and staging and everything was fitted to match the songs... That's the genius part of it and the younger audience doesnt need Gogos familiarity to understand the play.

[perfectliar]

Posted: 4/12/18 at 12:10am

antonijan said: "The songs are sung like the original...and the Elizabethan concept are mostly in dialogue and staging and everything was fitted to match the songs... That's the genius part of it and the younger audience doesnt need Gogos familiarity to understand the play. "

Not changing anything or creatively manipulating the songs is literally the opposite of genius.

[antonijan]

Posted: 4/12/18 at 3:35am

Part of the genius is the incorporation of the 1500's Acadia to 1980's Gogo's.

Old and New

I wonder how the 4 hour Oregon version were compared to this one.

Updated On: 4/12/18 at 03:35 AM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/12/18 at 7:48am

Go-Go's

Go-Go's

Go-Go's

Go-Go's

Go-Go's

Go-Go's

[UncleCharlie]

Posted: 4/12/18 at 9:20am

antonijan said: "Part of the genius is the incorporation of the 1500's Acadia to 1980's Gogo's.

Old and New

I wonder how the 4 hour Oregon version were compared to this one."

The Oregon version was not 4 hours. Who told you that?

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/12/18 at 9:33am

The Oregon version was not 4 hours. Who told you that?

Belinda Carlisle.