There are times in our lives where we find ourselves in the drama – whether we are the drama, manifest it through our social circles, or just naturally embody what it means to be dramatic. Head Over Heels is nothing short of the sort and could easily be described as one word: Drama.

The production Head Over Heels is described as “A Jukebox Musical featuring the songs of The Go-Go’s and based on Philip Sidney’s The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia.” You can go watch it at Ngaio Marsh Theatre, found in the UCSA building at the University of Canterbury’s Ilam Campus. Getting there ultimately becomes a mission in itself. No one checks my ticket; while this doesn’t appear to be an issue, unless you don’t get tickets, there might still be a chance you can get in anyway.

The cast list is mostly accurate. However, it seems there are some new faces, or a disconnection between the roles and the actors. I try looking all over MUSOC’s social media to find who is playing who, but perhaps some actors are replaced by understudies on the first night, making it difficult to know who is who and where to focus. As a reviewer of theatre, a programme with the names and actors must be more available. That being said, the audience tonight makes it feel more like a showing for friends and family – there are a lot of audience screams and squeals for some characters more than others, almost like they know their friend is up there and “woo-ing” from the audience. The disconnection feels more prominent as the show goes on – almost like a high-budget version of performing for your friends in the living room.

The production itself sets the bar extraordinarily high with the opening number. It’s a spectacle, to say the least; the choreographer/s do a fantastic job with the dynamics between the ensemble and the lead actors themselves. Some of the roles, like the king/queen and the sisters, are best described as cliche drama roles that fit within a box, or ‘cookie-cutter’ actors/roles.

The term ‘cookie-cutter’ can have a negative or somewhat mediocre connotation to it. In this production, the cookie-cutter performances by the lead roles are the mattresses that the performers rest their backs on to balance carrying the production on their poor backs. The roles I am talking about are Nicholas Matheson as Dametas, who, with very few lines in comparison to the rest of the leading roles, catches my attention with his awkwardly endearing preppy white boy pizazz. His moves during “The Cool Jerk” number in the background sticks out like a sore thumb in the absolutely best way. His ability to play into it in the coming scene as he walks back on stage is every bit as hilarious as the transformation that comes.

Another scene-stealing role is the Shepherd, after he is feminised to blend in with the sisters. His long, curly ginger wig and fetish-like medieval costume are giving Chappell Roan at the Grammys a run for her money. Speaking of which, watch out for the Gothic non-binary witchy character, so reminiscent of Dr Frank-N-Furter from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, with a small sprinkle of early Adam Lambert, filtered through the lens of a campy queer role from an SNL skit (compliment).

I will spend the rest of the review just glowing about the supernova in the making – Tacy Eyles – absolutely stealing the show as Pamela. Where some actor’s characters lack development or complexity, Pamela is the multicomplex female character every director would want in their productions. Watching her every second on stage was like watching a TikTok fan-edit happening in real time. Her comedic timing AND delivery, her numbers “Beautiful”, “Automatic Rainy Day” and the song about going crazy and tearing the place up is a spectacle. Her dancing in the opening number really gagged me, too. There isn’t a single thing she can’t do, besides convince herself that the handsome bachelors in the “Beautiful” number are worthy of her time and attention. Pamela quickly shut this down with another fascinating plot point – the Lesbian lovers storyline.

This production lives for the drama and loves a queer plot point. We discover non-binary representation, transgressive potential, cross-dressing representation and same sex love. It felt like a step in the right direction in terms of acceptance. Christchurch already has a reputation for being conservative and closed off to the LGBTQIA+ community/community support. Having all this representation, appreciation and acceptance was a lovely shift in tone.

Overall, this production has so much value to it from the storyline and bringing back the “Beat”, to campy undertones and classic musical theatre flair. I highly suggest you get your tickets to this production while they’re available and the show is on.

I give this production a 6.5 Pamelas out of 10.

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