Broadway Playwright James Magruder Joins Production Team of HEAD OVER HEELS at Iron Crow Theatre

Iron Crow Theatre announced that Baltimore native and Broadway playwright James Magruder has joined the production team of Head Over Heels. Magruder adapted Head Over Heels (original concept by Jeff Whitty) for its original Broadway run and will assist in the Baltimore premiere of his queer Broadway musical featuring songs by the most successful female rock band of all time - The Go- Go's.

"We are beyond thrilled to welcome such an accomplished playwright and author like Mr. James Magruder to our theatre," said Artistic Director Sean Elias. "For him to trust and believe that our small and aspirational theatre can serve his piece with professionalism and integrity is a true honor."

"I couldn't be happier that Sean Elias and his motley crew are able to bring the joyous beat of Head Over Heels to my hometown," said James Magruder. "Iron Crow Theatre is the ideal company to communicate its passionate pentameter and its positive messages."

From the visionaries that rocked Broadway with Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Avenue Q, and Spring Awakening, this laugh-out-loud love story written in blank verse and set to the music of the legendary 1980's all-female rock band The Go-Go's is a hilarious, exuberant celebration of love! Featuring the hit songs "We Got the Beat," "Our Lips Are Sealed," "Vacation," Belinda Carlisle's "Heaven is a Place on Earth," and "Mad About You," Head Over Heels follows the escapades of a royal family trying to prevent an oracle's prophecy of extinction. In order to save their beloved kingdom, the family embarks on an extravagant journey wrought with mistaken identities, jealous lovers, sexual awakening, scandal, and self-discovery, where everything is not quite what it seems. In the end, they discover the key to their realm's survival lies within each of their own hearts.

"The Season of Defiance is our most contemporary, relevant, and timely season ever crafted," said Artistic Director Sean Elias. "We've been very intentional in exploring and curating work that reflects where we find ourselves today - work that is meaningful, that has purpose, and that meets the moment. Head Over Heels is very much of the 'now' and can promote the theatre as a relevant and powerful tool in helping to explore and shape our existence as a collective society."

The 22/23 Season of Defiance opened in response to the fall of Roe v. Wade, and to wide critical acclaim with Robert O'Hara's timely satire, Mankind, directed by Iron Crow Theatre Resident Artist Ann Turiano. Mankind is a brutal dark comedy set in an uncannily familiar future where women have gone extinct from years of mistreatment, abortion is illegal, everyone's gay, and Jason gets pregnant. Responding to Florida's "Don't Say Gay Law" and the significant rise in anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment across the nation, the Baltimore premiere of Broadway's Head Over Heels follows with a defiant celebration of love and gender identity set to the songs of the legendary rock band, The Go-Go's. Next, we're proud to be one of the first organizations producing Pulitzer-Prize finalist Madeleine George's Hurricane Diane, directed by Resident Artist Natka Bianchini. In this piece, The Real Housewives meets HGTV with a side of "lesbian-pulp-Greek-tragedy" in a brand-new commentary on climate change. The season closes with Baltimore's favorite live musical tradition, our annual production of Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show, this time in a brand-new raucous celebratory Pride edition!

PERFORMANCE DETAILS:

HEAD OVER HEELS

Songs by The Go-Go's
Based on The Arcadia by Sir Philip Sydney
Conceived & Original Book by Jeff Whitty
Adapted by James Magruder
Directed by Sean Elias
Assistant Directed and Choreographed by Quae Simpson Music Directed by Rachel Sandler
Friday, December 2 - Sunday, December 18, 2022 www.ironcrowtheatre.org/headoverheels

Starring: Asia-Ligé Arnold as Mopsa, Allison Bradbury as Pamela, Hana Clarice as Gynecia, Brian Dauglash as Basilius, Brett Klock as Musidorus, Nicholas Miles as Pythio, Kristen Stickley as Philoclea, and Nathan Zimmerman as Dametas. Ensemble members include Alana Knobel (U/S Pamela, Gynecia), Aileen Mitchener (U/S Pythio), Micaela Oliverio (U/S Philoclea), Cam Powell (Male Swing), and Whitney Reed (U/S Mopsa).

Head Over Heels is the bold new queer musical comedy from the visionaries that rocked Broadway with Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Avenue Q, and Spring Awakening. This laugh-out-loud love story in blank verse is set to the music of the iconic 1980's all-female rock band The Go-Go's, including the hit songs, "We Got the Beat," "Our Lips Are Sealed," "Vacation," Belinda Carlisle's "Heaven is a Place on

Earth" and "Mad About You." Head Over Heels made Broadway musical history by featuring a trans actor in a principal role for the first time. A hilarious, exuberant celebration of love, Head Over Heels follows the escapades of a royal family trying to prevent an oracle's prophecy of extinction. In order to save their beloved kingdom, the family embarks on an extravagant journey wrought with mistaken identities, jealous lovers, sexual awakening, scandal, and self-discovery, where everything (and everyone) is not quite what it seems. In the end, they soon discover the key to their realm's survival lies within each of their own hearts.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

Friday, December 2, 2022, at 8:00 PM
Saturday, December 3, 2022, at 8:00 PM
Sunday, December 4, 2022, at 3:00 PM
Friday, December 9, 2022, at 8:00 PM
Saturday, December 10, 2022, at 8:00 PM
Sunday, December 11, 2022, at 3:00 PM
Friday, December 16, 2022, at 8:00 PM
Saturday, December 17, 2022, at 8:00 PM
Please note that at this performance, the role of Pamela will be played by Alana Knobel. Sunday, December 18, 2022, at 3:00 PM

All performances take place at the historic Baltimore Theatre Project located at 45 West Preston Street, Baltimore, MD 21201.

After Shows With The Crows
A special talk-back with the original Broadway playwright of Head Over Heels, Mr. James Magruder, will take place following the 3:00 PM performance on Sunday, December 4, 2022.

TICKETS

Introducing the new +Pass! With the all-new +Pass, you can join us for every event, whenever you'd like, and as often as you'd like. It's that simple!

+Pass pricing:
Annual Subscription: $200 Annual Monthly Subscription: $20

New this year, Iron Crow Theatre will move to a reserved seating model. All prices include ticket fees.

Individual tickets prices for Head Over Heels Front Orchestra: $37.50
Rear Orchestra: $32.50
Left Orchestra: $25
Right Orchestra: $25

Special group rates are available by emailing boxoffice@ironcrowtheatre.org. Any individual with difficulty attending a production at the ticket prices set are encouraged to reach out to the theatre directly at boxoffice@ironcrowtheatre.org as additional discounts and sponsorship opportunities may be available.

Iron Crow Theatre is proud to be one of the first 100 theatres across the country (and one of only two theatres in Baltimore) to take part in the Playwrights Welcome program, providing free access to theatre for playwrights, composers, and lyricists from Baltimore and around the country. Developed for Dramatists Guild of America Members by Samuel French, along with Dramatists Play Service, Dramatic Publishing, Music Theatre International, Playscripts, and Rodgers and Hammerstein, Playwrights Welcome offers available, unsellable tickets to professional playwrights on the day of a performance, free of charge. To receive a ticket through Playwrights Welcome at our theater, simply present your Dramatists Guild membership card at the Box Office.

IRON CROW THEATRE is Baltimore's award-winning professional queer theatre and produces queer theatre for a queer city, celebrating the renegade and the unorthodox in all of us.

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