Iron Crow Theatre: "Head Over Heels"

 Hmmm...where to begin?  I supposed with the success of Hadestown, and the fad of classical adaptations of plays like those of Shakespeare being turned into musicals using recently popular music--like the version of "The Taming of the Shrew" set to Duncan Shiek's early work, that the two would one day marry.  "Head Over Heels" is that love child.  It is loosely based on the Greek mythical magical kingdom of Arcadia.  A king is told of a threat to his crown by an oracle after he banishes a poor shepherd boy who seeks his younger daughter's hand in marriage.  In an attempt to foil the prophesy he up-roots his royal family and household and set off to Bohemia.  Toss in an Amazon, a handful of omens, a daughter who discovers she's a lesbian, another who marries her lover after the gods bring him back from the dead and discovers the he's a transvestite, another servant who learns that his banished wife is a transexual (he/him)...and a philandering royal couple whose king flips the script and hands the crown to the queen after a night of anonymous love-making with each other (It was in a cave.  It was dark. You had to be there.)  What more could you ask for?  How about a score based upon old Go Go's songs!--voila! Welcome to "Head Over Heels."

Admittedly, it might have helped if I had known more than 2 of the songs in the score.  All the more egregious given the Gina Schock the Go Go's original drummer was in the audience.  Another thing that is apparent, Iron Crow isn't about polished drama, or exceptional production values.  It is about fun.  The actors have fun, and you're going to have fun if you just go with the groove.  At times I was having fun, at other times the uneven production values were distracting in not good ways.  

Besides the central cast of characters with speaking roles numbering eight, there was an ensemble of 4 women.  I wasn't certain what their purpose was.  They filled in the background in some scenes, moved props in others and often popped in to dance while others sang.  Had they not done any of those things, the play would have been none the worse off.  Here's the thing, I'm not say that they can't dance.  But they can't dance together.  There wasn't number where they were in sync, but they were never so far out of sync to given you the impression that there was any intention to off kilter choreography--it was just bad dancing.  The other thing, the lights were annoying and at times flashed and shown in the audience's faces for no apparent reason other than to illicit seizures.  And the sound...too DAMN LOUD!  When it is so loud that it distorts the singer's voice, it's just too DAMN LOUD.  Whew!  I promise to be good now.

The writing in show was at times very witty.  I found myself laughing out loud more than once.  One scene in particular was great fun.  The eldest daughter, played by Allison Bradbury, Pamela is suddenly inspired to write love poems in the hopes of breaking out of her ennui over never finding a suitable prince to marry.  By now the audience knows that Pamela is a Lesbian.  She reads her first couplet but just can't finish it stuck on finding a word that rhymes with "bits"....  The next flusters her over the inability to rhyme with "angina."  Finally, she gives up when no word comes to mind to rhyme with "stunt"!  It really was funny.  And to that point, all 8 principal cast member were good.  They were funny, had good voices, knew how to deliver a line or offer a "look" for maximum effect.  Dancers, Lights and Sound aside, it was a fun time.  

The audience was rowdy as this was the shows next to last performance.  The creative director was on hand to play up Ms. Schock's presence--she was also signing copies of her new book (I didn't buy one), and generally hype up what an amazing show it was.  Everything you would expect from a creative director whose been swimming in the pool with the other fish for weeks now.  

A final word.  While the productions I've seen at Iron Crow are not on par with those at most other theatre companies in the Baltimore-greater DMV theatre community, they do have a mission.  They create a space where works by, about, and for LGBTQIA artists and patrons can be seen AND can see their works come to life.  It is a mission worth supporting.  And it is fun.

Unfortunately that program only include some of the photos of the actors and so I can't identify all of the people in the pictures.

When you're heading out of town, you pack up your bags and then sing a song where you toss them into the air as part of the choreography, duh!  Center: Brian Dauglash as King Basilius.

The death of Musidorus, Brett Klock, in spotlight.

Big finale dance number!