HEAD OVER HEELS Previews — Page 10

I want to love everything. I went with a friend who had a last minute extra ticket and mistakenly told me it was based on the music of The Bangles. I liked them, didn't love them, but still . . .   

One thing I will never understand is when a show is given a title you've heard a million times before -- like -- head over heels.  When Oprah had her TV show, she had a writer on named Janet Fitch who wrote a book called "White Oleander," and Oprah complimented her on all the unique ways she described things in her book. Janet told her that it was her college English prof who told her to never, ever use cliches.

Oprah said, "You mean, phrases you've heard over and over before?" and Janet said, "No, anything you may have heard even once."

Let that sink in.  

It's always a good idea to google a potential title to see if anyone has come up with it before you did.  If you google "head over heels" (without the quotes), the first 11 things ARE this show, but #12 is a band with that name, then there's a gym with that name, and then hundreds and thousands of other entries under that title that have nothing to do with this musical.  Would a unique theatrical musical use such an overused hackneyed phrase as a title?  No, never.  But when the title is vague and familiar, it sets up low expectations.  If you can't come up with an intriguing title, what are the chances the work will be? 

I think the cast is terrific, but each one is better than the material.  A hardworking, talented actor can do only so much with what they are given.  I hope they all will find more rewarding work, and if they get "discovered" because of this show, then it has done the best it could -- kept actors and musicians and stage hands employed until better work down the road materialized.  

If you are reading this and are a creative person, remember to google any potential title before you commit to it.  A friend of mine did that when she wanted to call her project, "Bad Girl Trapped In A Good Girl's Body."

Turned out to be the catch phrase of a porn site. She dodged a bullet there. 

christinelavin said: "One thing I will never understand is when a show is given a title you've heard a million times before -- like --head over heels. When Oprah had her TV show, she had a writer on named Janet Fitch who wrote a book called "White Oleander," and Oprah complimented her on all the unique ways she described things in her book. Janet told her that it was her college English prof who told her to never, everuse cliches.

Oprah said, "You mean, phrases you've heard over and over before?" and Janet said, "No, anything you may have heard even once."

Let that sink in.

It's always a good idea to google a potential title to see if anyone has come up with it before you did. If you google "head over heels" (without the quotes), the first 11 things ARE this show, but #12 is a band with that name, then there's a gym with that name, and then hundreds and thousands of other entries under that title that have nothing to do with this musical. Would a unique theatrical musical use such an overused hackneyed phrase as a title? No, never. But when the title is vague and familiar, it sets up low expectations. If you can't come up with an intriguing title, what are the chances the work will be?"

Err, it's the name of one of the Go-Go's biggest hit songs... in a show populated entirely by Go-Gos songs... that is mainly attracting fans of the Go-Gos?!

I guess you would rather a more unique, yet accurate title, like: The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia: The Musical?

Does anyone know the story behind what happened with jeff whitty and this show? I saw the show last night and went to his twitter as someone in the theater mentioned he had beef with the show, which seems to be true according to his tweets.

Kad,

How did you get ahold of Jeff Whitty's version?  Which version of his script are you talking about?  What's the date of the script?

christinelavin said: "If you are reading this and are a creative person, remember to google any potential title before you commit to it."

What a stupid, myopic thing to say. This year's Pulitzer winner for fiction is called Less. Last year's is The Underground Railroad. Neither are likely to be the first search result you find, and they managed to be perfectly well off with their titles.

I saw the show on Wednesday afternoon and I liked it, but with a better book, I feel like I would have loved it. The show feels right in my wheelhouse - campy, over the top, and ridiculous but the book with the muddled Shakespearean language dragged down the show for me. The cast is very talented and I actually felt like the Go Go's music worked well in context, but the book was very messy. Was there some good moments of the book? Yes, but ultimately I felt the overuse of the Shakespearean language dragged it down. If Something Rotten can make their show work in the setting of Shakespearean times and not overuse the Shakespearean language I felt like this could. Overall, I was a little disappointed because as I mentioned this show felt right up my alley, but ultimately it fell short with the book. I definitely still had a fun time, and I'd not turn down going again, but I definitely didn't love it as much as I felt I could. 

Updated On: 7/28/18 at 09:48 AM