Review: Head Over Heels, at the Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester

What do you get when you cross the 1580s with the 1980s? You get Head Over Heels of course!

Having played on Broadway in 2019, this is the UK premiere, playing at the Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester. I had heard of the show before, but as it slipped under the radar a lot (and not being nominated for the Tonys didn't help); I have though listened to a bit of the cast album, as it popped up in a few of the Playbill lists on Spotify I have come to save over the years. 

Knowing how much I love the Hope Mill, and that it is a known space for championing queer stories, their RENT choreographer Tom Jackson-Greaves coming back to both direct and choreograph; of course I needed to at least investigate. 

I return to my opener: 

Head Over Heels is the 1580s clashing with the 1980s 

Based on The Arcadia by Sir Phillip Sidney, Head Over Heels is a jukebox musical using the music of The Go-Gos; one of those bands for me that I knew the songs, just not WHO sang them (think Beautiful or Jersey Boys). 

Set in the land of Arcadia, we meet the Royal Family, who live by "The Beat". After a set of four prophecies is made by the seer Pythio, the King sets his family out on an adventure to ensure that they don't come true... Without telling his family the truth. Cue hilarity, mistaken identities, relationship hijinks etc... If all four prophecies come true, they could lose "The Beat")

It's camp, fluffy and cheesy fun more than anything else 

The weakest part though is 100% the book for me; it's not the richest. Not that you would expect it to of course, but it could do a little bit of tweaking, just to make it flow better, and for its humour to really punch. It does have some funny moments, but it is usually in a rudely created rhyme Princess Pamela creates, or something with a sexual undertone when the audience laughs. Not as natural a laugh for me personally as some others 

What it does shine in though is that this is at its heart a silly joyful story, discussing queer love and gender identity. It's so rare (sad as it is for me to say this) to see happy queer stories; however, I feel that it still needs a bit of polishing so it can triumph in the way & Juliet (as the best example I can think of), discusses similar themes. 

While the book may not be the most padded, this cast, many of whom are Hope Mill favourites are having an absolute ball with this material. 

Especially Iz Hesketh (Legally Blonde) as Pythio 

There aren't many roles written as Trans/Non-Binary in musical theatre, so it was incredible that Head Over Heels not only allows this, but also I must admit, Pythio is the best part in the whole show. I wish though that they had even more of a role, due to Hesketh's performance. From their first number, A Vision of Nowness, Hesketh was this camp mixture of the monster in Pan's Labyrinth, panto villainess and all around Goddess. They killed their sassy one-liners, they killed choreography... they just killed it, end of. 

Hesketh may be the shining light, but Jenny O'Leary (Heathers) brings in ALL the belting moments to melt your face off. 

Is Head Over Heels a perfect show? Nope. But is it fun? Yes 

Yes we get to see a fun show, but despite all the camp glitter, it needs a bit of polishing up for the show to really shine. My best recommendation for Head Over Heels would be with a group of friends, grabbing some of their The Beat cocktails and the Biscoff brownies (which can I say, are DELICIOUS).