Head Over Heels - Hope Mill Theatre

It’s easy to miss but it’s tagged as a visiting company on the Hope Mill website.

I appreciate that. Just a little joke!

Doesn't look like it's selling particularly well. Glad I held off booking as I've now taken advantage of the Manchester Theatres offer too and got reduced price ticket for Sunday

Tonight's second preview has been cancelled.

With the good news early this morning that both scheduled shows are going ahead, I’m heading to Hope Mill to see the show this afternoon.

Having just got back from this afternoon's show, a few thoughts from my visit. With today's show only being the second the preview due to cast illness, we had a bit of a late cast change today. Due to the absence of Jenny O'Leary as Pamela, with less than 24hrs rehearsal time we had ensemble member Marina Tavolieri step into the role along with the show director Tom Jackson Greaves in the ensemble. I have to say with script in hand, Marina was brilliant both vocally and with the line delivery.

As a second preview, I will say this show is in really good shape and the 2hr 20 min run time didn't drag at all. We did have a bit of mic feedback but apart from that, there were no other technical issues as far as I could see. The sound mixing was spot on and I had no issues hearing either the 5-piece band (guitars, drums and a keyboard) located at the back of the stage or the cast singing the score.

As I previously posted, I wasn't really aware of the "Go-Go's" group and only know of "Heaven is a place on Earth" pre-visit, but I will say that this really didn't impact on my enjoyment of the music or the show. If nothing else, it has encouraged me to have a listen to the original's post visit. With the 18 songs within the show, I certainly didn't feel that there was a big "11-o'Clock" number within the score, though all songs were performed really well and with plenty of energy by the cast and band. Having read the LB thread there were some issues around Iz Hesketh's vocals. I will say that today, I didn't hear anything from them to warrant any concerns of their singing.

With the cast, they really do seem to have a really good on-stage chemistry and worked really well as a group in delivering the show. My own personal favourite was Daniel Page as Dametas who really had really good comic timing.

The book Jeff Whitty / James Magruder is packed with plenty of laughs and some great wordplay on show. It is very much tongue in cheek humour and not very much hard hitting emotion. The language is very much in the vein of a Shakespeare play set to pop songs.

In terms of staging, quite frankly there really isn't much on display.  It is very much a bare stage with only a few pillars at the side of the stage to depict the setting. There are few props but in one scene to depict a bush, a white cloth with the word "BUSH" is used instead. The only positive I can say is that if you are sat either end of the rows you are not going to miss anything from set's blocking your view.

The costumes from designer Sophia Pardon, I think are meant to represent an 80's look, though there are a few nods to Elizabethan wear in terms of dresses and ruffs.

Overall, whilst I didn't fall head over heels in love with this show, there was plenty in there to keep me entertained and enjoy for my discounted ticket price and at the end was well received by the audience.

Sounds cheap. Appreciating fully the financial challenges that the HM is under but most people don’t want to see cheap looking shows with no set. Sorry. That’s just how it is.

We can be all “community” and “kind” as much as we like but tix at the HM are not cheap and people deserve more than this. 

Is this a jukebox musical a la Movin' Out or Mama Mia where the artists songs are used as a narrative device?

www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/head-heels-hope-mill-theatre-manchester-review-marvellous-meeting/
Four stars from the Telegraph

Well that was an extremely fun and entertaining evening at the Hope Mill Theatre! A couple of sound issues at the start, mainly the incredibly loud ventilation system being switched on to maximum for some reason and Maiya’s mic seemed to be very quiet. Thankfully it was all sorted after the first song and from there on in the sound was great.

It’s a very loud, bold and at times silly (in the best possible way) show that delves into topics that some might roll their eyes at whilst others (including myself) will come away from the show feeling empowered.

The cast were firing on all cylinders, it felt like such a treat being sat just a couple of feet away from people performing at such a high standard. Jenny O’Leary is an absolute star who really has a bright future ahead of her.

I really hope I can see this again before it ends.

Especially with how it's selling. I'm going later this week and the audience looks sparse at best most nights.