Head Over Heels (NYC)

"Cause for joyous celebration, in its exhilarating paean to 'love is love is love' across time, class, and gender...All are delivered, under the energetic and sharp-witted direction of Michael Mayer, by an exuberant cast that brings humor, empathy, and commitment to the over-riding message of opening our hearts and minds to diversity, while having a rollicking good time and enjoying life and love to the fullest." Full Review

“A polished yet touching fairytale rom-com that succeeds where so many catalogue tuners fail. Whitty’s book is silly and sweetly wise enough to transcend the absurdity of Eighties pop in Elizabethan drag...Graceful book and elegant, rock-smart music direction...A visual impact where goofiness and camp can still be artful and lovely to behold...Shrewd, funny, sexy, and with a glorious beat, ‘Head Over Heels’ will have you flipping for joy.” Full Review

"Against all odds, it mostly works...For me, Liff’s choreography is one of the strongest aspects of the show. l confess that I had never heard a Go-Go’s song before and would not feel deprived if I did not hear one again. Nevertheless, they fit reasonably well into the show...It’s not 'My Fair Lady' or 'Carousel,' but it works as naughty fun for a summer night. The curtain call is a real treat!" Full Review

"The only things you need to have fun are an appreciation of the stunning visual talents of set designer Crouch and costume designer Phillips (both of whom do truly outstanding work), a sense of awe while watching eight extraordinary dancers executing the choreography of Liff, the ability to laugh loudly, and above all, an open mind to receive all the queer-friendly, feminist, slightly subversive content that has been packed with a firm yet friendly touch into this Elizabethan-era story." Full Review

"A production that entertains on many counts, including showy performances, amusing costumes, savvy scenery, imaginative lighting, and some updated gender exploration. To call this a jukebox musical would be denigrating. It comes through with a lot more than that as a fun-filled experience...All the Go-Go’s numbers are deftly worked into the action...Even if you never heard of the Go-Go’s you should find plenty to enjoy seeing the exuberant 'Head Over Heels.'" Full Review

"The thematic thrust here is 'binary is so last century!' It’s not so much politically edgy as it is gently teasing, a crash course on LBGTQ+ sensibility, but all very safe. This high-spirited production is for folks looking for a good time — a lot of pounding good music — young actors with powerhouse voices — and a director who knows his way around a farce...There are moments of hilarity, the kind of laughter that catches you up and keeps doubling back.” Full Review

"If the premise of 'Head Over Heels' sounds a little nutso, that’s because the show is a lot nutso, in the most delightfully daffy, exuberantly heart-open way...'Head Over Heels' is joyfully queering the canon (which isn’t all that straight to begin with) and throwing a heady, hearty party while it’s at it...Part of the appeal of 'Head Over Heels' is that while it’s got Broadway sparkle to it, it depends almost entirely on its ensemble to generate its goofy, big-hearted brand of magic." Full Review

"A delightfully entertaining romp, an impressive display of theatrical creativity that leaves you in awe of any mind capable of dreaming it up. (Extra points because it didn't start out as a movie.)...The casting is perfection as the story unfolds in (mostly) iambic pentameter...As the action moves along under Michael Mayer's swift direction, we're treated to fabulously athletic choreography by Spencer Liff." Full Review

"The show is ground-breaking. It’s about sexual identity and the struggles that come along with it...It’s about freedom. Liberation. Acceptance. And the theme weaves in and out of the story effortlessly, all the way to the dancers and choreography...The songs are wonderful, as you’d expect them to be, and they are well sung by a skilled cast. The show is a bit campy, but there is nothing wrong with that, particularly at a time when we all need a dose of positivity and inclusion.” Full Review

"The feeling of watching Cher kiss Meryl Streep on the lips has been captured on stage in the form of 'Head Over Heels'...It can be a little distracting when the dialogue tries to double as LGBTQ 101, but it still feels like a divine post-Pride Month miracle that this show’s 'Vision of Nowness' is not just to incorporate one or two LGBTQ characters but to foreground a whole host of people of varying identities." Full Review

"To enjoy 'Head Over Heels,' which offers quite a lot to enjoy, it is probably best to kick up your heels and put your head on hold. That’s not to say that this saucy, boisterous musical doesn’t have a brainy side, starting with its ambitious crossbreeding of four time periods...But at heart the show is a campy romp...Broadway traditionalists may not approve, but that feels like part of the point...A fantasy and celebration of nonconformity, and it puts its casting where its mouth is." Full Review

"It is pretty silly and pretty dumb. Mostly it’s a lot of fun. That beat they’ve got? It’s infectious...'Head Over Heels' is kind of great without ever being especially good...What puts 'Head Over Heels' over the top are a couple of genius comic performances and the play’s blithe conjuring of a better, hornier world...The moral is a little soppy...But under Michael Mayer’s perky, occasionally frantic direction, there’s too much goodwill and too many good wigs to resist it." Full Review

“This melting of 80’s pop and 16th Century prose is a silly fun invention worthy of everyone’s time and energy...A deliciously created Elizabethan landscape drenched in farce and merriment with a knowing wink and a big old smile...’Head Over Heels’ has its bow and arrow joyfully and comically aimed at timely issues...without ever trying to obstinately hit you too seriously over the head with any one topic...The play is priceless in its prose, and well executed with innocence and a-dork-ability.” Full Review

"Under Michael Mayer's fast-paced direction, 'Head Over Heels' starts badly and busily but eventually slows down to a delightful Elizabethan parody on love and gender. While not all of The Go-Go's songs are suitable for the storyline and the period, enough of them fit perfectly to make this a superior light entertainment. The cast is first rate and the show may make stars of the ingenious Andrew Durand and the classy and stylish Peppermint." Full Review

"'Head Over Heels' is not only a sterling example of inclusivity, but also a beautiful model of how progressive Broadway has the potential to be...Milligan, whose foot-stompingly funny performance is one of the great breakthroughs of the year, milks it for all it's worth...Magruder's adaptation has the tendency to fall into self-seriousness...While the energy flags here and there when the ensemble isn't singing and dancing, Mayer's efforts cannot be understated." Full Review

"'Head Over Heels' could have been just another jukebox musical, but the clever book...mixes Sir Philip Sidney’s 16th century 'The Arcadia' and with songs by the 1980s girl group The Go-Gos for a surprisingly fun, silly joyride. The usual tangle of hidden loves and gender-bending disguises gets a 2018 twist...The myriad plot patches are woven into a brightly colored crazy quilt, reflecting the creators and cast’s appreciation and love of sexual diversity, pop culture, and the beat." Full Review

"Wielding nostalgia and camp as its weapons of choice. The result is openly bizarre, no doubt. It’s also an infectiously entertaining, french-tipped fist pump for the resistance...If not every number pops, neither do they feel shoehorned...Given the show’s unwaveringly open embrace of its own absurdity, faulting it for flaunting logic or convention feels beside the point...A series of sharp turns near the end are enough to cause whiplash. But then, so is dancing to the Go-Go’s if you’re doing... Full Review

"Subtle it is not. Entertaining? If a jukebox musical crammed into the construct of an epic 16th-century work of prose is your jam, sure...Choreographer Spencer Liff has plenty of ammunition thanks to Tom Kitt’s super-charged orchestrations and arrangements...This rainbow-proud revelry doesn’t take itself too seriously, but the message is clear: We’re here. We’re queer. And we know how to have a good time. 'Head Over Heel’s' greatest stride, though, is the casting of Ms. Milligan." Full Review

"The cast is hardworking and talented, especially the amazing Bonnie Milligan as the more narcissistic of the two daughters and the Peter Scolari-ish Andrew Durand as the lead drag queen, who breaks fourth walls and romantic barriers...Michael Mayer’s direction and Spencer Liff’s choreography are specific and vigorous (with lots of voguing moves thrown in)." Full Review

"As soon as the curtain goes up, you’ll hear the unmistakable driving drum riff of 'We Got the Beat'...If that number doesn’t put a smile on your face, go grab a frosé from the lobby bar at intermission, because you need a boozy millennial-pink frozen beverage to relax your facial muscles...'HOH' is a parade of cross-dressing, mistaken identities, and, above all, moments of profound silliness. Some work, such as a flock of sheep singing backup on 'Mad About You'. And some don’t." Full Review

“Fun, charming, and a lot more complex than it initially appears...Refreshingly queer and endearingly topical, the musical features a plot that is gleefully convoluted without being a chore to follow...The show is colorful, upbeat, and not out to punish anyone: it all works out well in the end...A warm, bubbly show that promises total acceptance, happy endings for every one of its lovelorn characters, and a heaping plate of cultural wish-fulfillment just can't be....um....beat.” Full Review

“Nicely orchestrated farce...Fun is in abundance in this show, staged as an old school musical comedy entertainment complete with clam shell lights on the stage...Everyone else in this frothy frolic is spot on...’An odd combination of ‘ye olde England’ and songs which seem a bit thin musically for the Broadway stage. Get past that (and I did) and you will enjoy a fizzy, lusty tale of love, desire, freedom and tolerance.” Full Review

“Sly but rambunctious, big-hearted but snarky: ‘Head over Heels’ now at the Hudson Theatre, is the new bizarre musical on Broadway...This is a good-time show, smart and loud and colorful, with a terrific cast and a great all-girls rock band banging out the beat behind the upstage wall...Under Michael Mayer’s direction, these very game actors are, without exception, a pleasure to watch and listen to.” Full Review

"This is silly, but the show doesn’t pretend otherwise, and, given the right mood, one can revel in its silliness. 'Head Over Heels' is happy to be a musical comedy that winks at us, while under Michael Mayer’s fast-paced direction a ton of talented performers energetically deliver the songs, the shtick and the story in 19 colorful and sometimes off-color scenes...The logic along the way would not withstand much scrutiny, but the show’s innate silliness more or less inoculates it from scrutiny." Full Review

“If the plot slogs about a bit, the attempts at humor can get clunky and the lyrics are often indecipherable...give credit to director Michael Mayer, choreographer Spencer Liff...and a talented company seemingly obsessed with showing the audience a good time. On paper, ‘Head over Heels’ may not be to everyone's taste, but it certainly achieves its goal of providing glossy, energetic fun. And when you tack on the fact that there's a message or two about inclusivity, well, so much the better.” Full Review