Joan Marcus
Head Over Heels, the Broadway musical featuring songs from The Go-Gos including the title tune, “We Got The Beat” and “Our Lips Are Sealed” will play its final performance Sunday, Jan. 6, 2019, producers announced today.
The musical, which opened at the Hudson Theatre on July 26, will have played 188 regular performances and 37 previews by the time it closes next month. The production, greeted by mixed reviews, never caught fire at the box office, and has been struggling in recent weeks with grosses hovering around 20% of a
$883,552 box office potential. Even during weeks when 60% of seats were filled, modest average ticket prices of $61 kept box office far from reaching potential.
“Along with my partners, creative team and cast, it was our desire to create a piece of live theatre that celebrates love of all kinds and portrays a world of beauty in which joy and acceptance reign above all else,” said lead producer Christine Russell. “We are incredibly proud of what Head Over Heels has come to represent, not only on Broadway, but for future generations of theatergoers.”
Producers are considering a 2019 U.S. tour, though nothing has been set, as well as regional productions and professional licensing of the show. Stock and amateur performance rights were acquired by Broadway Licensing and will be available for production in the coming year.
The Broadway producing team is Christine Russell, Louise Gund, Donovan Leitch, Rick Ferrari, Gwyneth Paltrow, Scott Sigman, Hunter Arnold, Tom Kirdahy and Jordan Roth.
The musical, directed by Michael Mayer with musical supervision, orchestrations and arrangements by Tom Kitt and choreography by Spencer Liff, was conceived by Jeff Whitty (Avenue Q), who wrote the original book based on the 16th Century prose poem The Countess of Pembrokes Arcadia by Sir Philip Sidney. James Magruder, whose Triumph of Love was staged on Broadway by Mayer in 1997, reworked the musical prior to its Broadway debut.
But no amount of tinkering seems to have been able to overcome the musicals chief obstacle: Though 18 Go-Gos songs are included, the plot has nothing to do with the popular 80s band, and folks expecting a more traditional jukebox bio-musical were in for either a surprise or a disappointment, depending on ones taste for campy fairy tales in enchanted far-off kingdoms.
The principal cast features Andrew Durand, Taylor Iman Jones, Jeremy Kushnier, Bonnie Milligan, Peppermint, Tom Alan Robbins, Alexandra Socha and Rachel York. A cast album via Sony Masterworks Broadway includes an exclusive new recording by the Go-Gos of “This Town,” their first studio recording in more than 17 years.
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