HMHS is Head Over Heels for the Theater!

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Caroline Bisirri, Staff Writer
March 7, 2023

 

After the success of last year’s show, Cinderella, the HMHS drama club is coming back with something entirely different for its spring musical. Coming to the stage Friday March 10th is the pop-rock spectacular, Head Over Heels, featuring a comedic and upbeat mashup of Elizabethan English and music from the 80’s girl group, the GoGos!

The main cast of characters holds a wide berth of representation, including Pythio (who is nonbinary and played by Mo Nobel) and Mopsa (who is a lesbian and played by Lola Cooke). The actors playing them had to work not only on accurate and sensitive portrayals, but also with the difficult dialogue, some of it being in iambic pentameter. Joseph Keegan, who plays Musidorus, a shepherd who is in love with the princess, Philoclea (played by Katie Walsh), described his experience in memorizing lines: “It is definitely a challenge and can be difficult to get the wording correct at times, but it is so rewarding when you do! It truly is a blast!” 

Other principal leads include King Basilius (played by Griffin Adams), Queen Gynecia (Mia Bompensa), Pamela (Erica Watts), and Dametus (Nick Hehl). The sheer range of scenes and situations these actors must act in are truly incredible, with anything from mermaids to lions to prophetic snakes! On the show itself, Adams described, “The music really helps elevate these larger-than-life characters, whose emotions are very intense.

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The discovery of love or passion can be a very powerful thing, and the energetic music really helps illustrate the layers of feelings that the characters in this musical are going through.

— Griffin Adams, who plays King Basilius

” Famous songs featured in this production are We Got the Beat, Get Up and Go, and Beautiful. “There are so many high-energy dance numbers to songs that people know and love,” said director Mr. DiDonato, when asked which dance number could be most entertaining for the audience, “If I had to pick one, I would say ‘We Got The Beat,’ because it opens the show and sets the tone for the show which is a mash up between a musical and a rock concert.” 

 

 

The plot itself centers around a kingdom’s adventure in response to a dire warning from a prophet. In fear of losing their illustrious “beat” everyone must leave “Arcadia” to try and prevent the inevitable, with side plots of suitorship and family accompanying it. “I am amazed at how well the GoGos music fits into the story,” said Mia Bompensa at the seemingly unconventional pair up, “Since the music is so recognizable, I feel that audience members will connect more with our show and feel a sense of nostalgia along with it.”

Tickets for Head Over Heels are on sale at hmhs.booktix.com, for March 10-12 and the 17th and 18th. If you’re looking for a bit of comedy, action, and magic, then make sure to “get up and go!”