Previews: HEAD OVER HEELS (HIGH SCHOOL EDITION) at Straz Center's Patel Conservatory

If you lived through the 80s, you have heard of the Go-Gos. Now a new generation of 13-18-year-olds at Patel Conservatory is discovering their pop-rock music. On stage from October 13-16 is the jukebox musical comedy Head Over Heels (High School Edition) featuring the iconic music of the famous girl band.

With a cast of 16, directed by Jamie Lynn Gilliam, prepare to be dancing in the aisles as you sing along with "We Got the Beat," "Get Up and Go," "Cool Jerk," "Vacation," "Our Lips Are Sealed," "Lust to Love," "Head Over Heels," as well as Belinda Carlisle's solo hits "Mad About You" and "Heaven is a Place on Earth," and other songs from their career.

Head Over Heels blends the catalog of GoGo's songs with an Elizabethan farce circa the MTV generation. It reinvents Philip Sidney's 16th-century prose poem Arcadia, bursting with dramatic irony, funny courtship, and mistaken identity. James Magruder is the writer of the Broadway adaptation, based on an original book by Avenue Q Tony winner Jeff Whitty. In this story, the royal characters of Arcadia fight to save a beloved kingdom from extinction.

Jamie said, "The first time I read the musical, I thought it has every theatre trope that you've ever heard in your entire life. Guys are trying to get the girl, people are falling in love with the wrong people thinking they're with someone else, people are falling in love, and they can't get to each other - it's everything. It's very funny. You get a lot of the jokes just by reading them off the page. It's written in prose, so it's interesting to watch these kids tackle the language. My job is to make it entertaining, and I think we are going to do that."

Sixteen-year-olds Ava Shimmel and Jaiden Gray play Mopsa and Musidorus. Both started at Straz's Patel Conservatory as dancers but were quickly bit by the acting bug.

Ava said, "Mopsa is a handmaiden to one of the royals. She starts to realize that she's developing feelings for her. Her whole journey is figuring those feelings out and accepting herself and others."

Jaiden's Musidorus has the young man in drag.

"He's kind of like the loverboy in the story. He's not the brightest, but he does what he can find his lover, and somehow that way is to dress up as a woman and portray being a female to get close to his lover."

Jamie quipped, "It's very Shakespeare."

Before performing in Head Over Heels, of the two, only Ava knew the Go-Gos.

"I'm going to be honest," said Jaiden. "I had no clue."

When asked to choose their favorite song, the two waffled between several in the show.

"I like 'Vacation,' but it's not my favorite. I think my favorite song is 'Turn to You' because it is the catchiest, a fun pop number," explained Ava.

"Vision of Nowness" was Jaiden's number-one song.

"It reveals one of the most powerful characters in the story, and it's just fun to listen to and watch."

Jamie is having the best time rehearsing a scene reminiscent of Abbott and Costello's famous 'Who's On First?' Everyone is speaking simultaneously, and there's a cat-and-mouse chase.

"It's the best kind of comedy. I'm really enjoying that moment," said Jamie.

Each had different but similar responses when asked what the musical's message was.

"For me, it's all about accepting - acceptance of being aware of people around you and how everyone is connected and deserves happiness," said Jamie.

"It's a lot of acceptance, but it's also figuring out for yourself and being able to come to terms with it and learn to accept yourself," said Ava. "It's accepting yourself and others and knowing that you don't know everything. That way, you can be honest about yourself and say, 'Hey, I want to learn this thing. I want to learn about you and everyone about me. That way, I can appreciate you all the same.'"

Jaiden added, " I connect to this play because it's just about love - all the different types of love and all the ways it can happen. And it's actually really beautiful because it'll show the audience that no matter who you are, love will always find a way... And that's just life."

Head Over Heels will be performed Oct. 13-16, Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday at 2 and 7 p.m. Regularly priced tickets begin at $23.75. Tickets can be purchased by calling 813.229.STAR (7827) or 800.955.1045 outside Tampa Bay, in person at the Straz Center Ticket Sales Office or online at www.strazcenter.org. Content Warning: production contains inferred strong language, comedic depictions of sexual acts, and some violence. This production is recommended for ages 13 and up; parental guidance is advised.

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