ArtsWest Announces Casting For HEAD OVER HEELS

THEY GOT THE BEAT! Join us this holiday for a fairy-tale celebration of love and acceptance in this raucous royal family "vacation," HEAD OVER HEELS. Venture to the forest with the royals of Arcadia on a quest to save their beloved kingdom after they learn of an Oracle's prophecy of doom, all while moovin' and groovin' to the music of The Go-Go's in this exuberant Elizabethan-inspired musical!

The principal cast of HEAD OVER HEELS features Mila Jam as PYTHIO, Louis Hobson as BASILIUS, Ann Cornelius (MATILDA, Village Theatre) as GYNECIA, Rheanna Atendido (BRIGHT STAR, Taproot Theatre) as PHILOCLEA, Kataka Corn (ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, Twelfth Night Productions) as MOPSA, Eric Dobson (ROCK OF AGES, The 5th Avenue Theatre) as MUSIDORUS, Alex Sturtevant (THE CHAMPAGNE WIDOW, Café Nordo) as PAMELA, and Joseph Tancioco (IN THE HEIGHTS, Village Theatre) as DAMETAS.

New York based pop recording artivist and transgender superstar Mila Jam joins the cast as the otherworldly and non-binary Oracle PYTHIO, who warns the kingdom of Arcadia that their beat is outdated. Mila Jam is known around the world for her unforgettable stage performances & one of a kind music videos, most notably her parody of Rihanna's song Umbrella with over two million views on YouTube.

Mila has toured internationally with the Broadway musical RENT, and performed alongside James Brown, Mark Ronson, Laverne Cox, Travis Wall, Jody Watley, Lady Kier (Deee-Lite) and Natasha Bedingfield. Appearances include the BBC's The Lilly Allen Show, MTV & MTV NEWS with special features on The Huffington Post, MTV.com, OUT.com & Perezhilton.com.

Breathing life into the brazenly oblivious and patriarchal king BASILIUS is Louis Hobson, a Broadway performer renowned for originating the role of Doctor Madden in the original Broadway company of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning NEXT TO NORMAL. A Washington State native and Pacific Lutheran University graduate, Hobson is known most recently to ArtsWest audiences for his starring role in JANE EYRE. Seattle audiences may also recognize him from The 5th Avenue Theatre's ASSASSINS and A ROOM WITH A VIEW.

From the visionaries who rocked Broadway with AVENUE Q, SPRING AWAKENING, and HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, James Magruder and Tony award-winning writer Jeff Whitty weave the iconic music of the all-female 80's rock band The Go-Go's with the Elizabethan romance based on Sir Phillip Sidney's The Arcadia, written near the end of the 16th century. HEAD OVER HEELS is anything but old-fashioned as a fresh contemporary musical with a profoundly queer heart, a joyous and delightful narrative that will sweep you off your feet.

"It's an exciting time to tell stories that uphold the different colors of humanity!" says Mila Jam on traveling to the Pacific Northwest this fall. "[I am] looking forward to celebrating diversity and finding my beat in Seattle with ArtsWest!"

"I saw HEAD OVER HEELS in its Broadway production last year and knew by intermission that it was a show we needed back in Seattle. That it is so smart, so funny, and so unexpectedly timely is the first thing that hits you -- the second is that it does it all through as clever a use of the music and lyrics of The Go-Go's as you could possibly imagine," says HEAD OVER HEELS director and Artistic Director of ArtsWest, Mathew Wright. "To see it brought to life by some of Seattle's finest singers, actors, dancers, and creatives is going to be a truly extraordinary holiday treat."

Alongside Director Mathew Wright on the Creative Team are Music Director R.J. Tancioco (THE SPITFIRE GRILL, Showtunes Theatre), Choreographer UJ Mangune (FOOTLOOSE, Marriot Theatre), Stage Manager Katerina Gawlak (JUDY'S SCARY LITTLE CHRISTMAS), Scenic Designer Lex Marcos (THE NANCE), Lighting Designer Ryan Dunn (IS GOD IS, Washington Ensemble Theatre), Sound Designer Erin Bednarz (THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING, Act Theatre), Costume Designer Jocelyne Fowler (LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN, Taproot Theatre), Properties Master David Hsieh (M. BUTTERFLY)

Rounding out the HEAD OVER HEELS cast are Will Chadek, Maddi Chancey, Yena Han, Maleah Haverly, Cherisse Martinelli, Drew O'Donnell, Adrian Renon, Malcom "MJ" Smith, Spencer Stromberg, Brandon Weglin.

HEAD OVER HEELS plays November 21 - December 29, 2019 at ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave SW, Seattle WA 98116. Tickets ($20-$42) available online at www.artswest.org, by phone at (206) 938-0339, or at the box office Thursday through Saturday, 2-7:30 p.m.

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