Head Over Heels and the Art of the Mash-Up
Mad About Ewe?
A mash-up: when two things that don’t obviously belong together nonetheless collide, and majesty ensues.
We think of mash-ups a lot with food, asking questions like, “Who could have predicted that mixing pulverized legumes (peanut butter) with sugared fruit slops (jelly) would one day become a staple of pediatric cuisine?”
Spaghetti and meatballs. Chicken and waffles. Turkey and cranberry sauce. In all of these, the inherent tension and—when you really think about it—bizarro wackadoodliness of the combos work to create something that eventually seems like a timeless no-brainer. What kind of nutso thought of this dish in the first place? Probably someone fearlessly creative, to have the nerve to imagine how belonging could emerge from the rebellious act of pairing that which does not belong.
Head Over Heels, opening at Davidson Community Players on Wednesday night, is a cultural mash-up. In this scenario, Elizabethan lore plays the role of peanut butter, and the post-punk ‘80s rock of The Go-Go’s plays the role of jelly. No one in their right mind would posit that there’s artistic harmony here. And yet…and yet…
It works. Surprisingly well. Organically well. So well that you might wonder if Shakespeare had been born in the wrong century, that maybe Twelfth Night should have been set to Duran Duran and The Tempest to Metallica (actually, these productions probably exist somewhere).
This new-ish musical, which survived a rocky Broadway run to now become a favorite in the regional and collegiate theatre circuits, is also a mash-up of virtues. On the one hand, it is a winningly sweet and naïve show about love, so wide-eyed and pure in its tone that it checks all the boxes of the essential summer crowdpleaser. On the other hand, it is a courageous work of art, daring to cartwheel its way into an overly charged cultural landscape with a message that, in any sane world, would be completely apolitical: love who you want, and be who you are. To know thyself means to accept that you, in all the complexities of your humanness, may one day find yourself as one ingredient in an unexpected mash-up.
Join us at Head Over Heels with a spirit of curiosity and adventure. Unlike recent summer musicals (Mary Poppins, 9 to 5), we aren’t giving you something that you already know you like. We’re the only ones who already know you’ll like it.
And for our live music fans who want to be as close to the rock concert as possible: don’t miss out on our $15 pit orchestra deal. It’s the best price you’ll get on a Go-Go’s set in Charlotte this year, we promise.