Sequoyah’s Production of Head Over Heels

This spring, the Sequoyah high school theater put on the musical Head Over Heels, a reimagining of the 16th century book The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia by Sir Philip Sidney, with great music from the all-female rock band the Go-Gos. Written by James Magruder and Jeff Whitty, it was held from March 31st through April 2nd at the K8 campus. It featured direction by Theater and Humanities teacher Arden Thomas, music direction by Lindsay Dodoras, and choreography by Lindsey Johnson. Additionally, the costumes for the production were designed by Thomas’s SAS Advanced Theater class and displayed a colorful array of blues, purples, and golds fit for royalty. Elsa Thordarson’s ’25 dramatic cape and headpiece and Beth Huggins’ ’25 sparkly gold pants and ruched purple top were particular standouts. 

The plot followed a royal family’s journey through the woods in an attempt to evade prophecies that threaten to silence the “Beat” of their town. The characters explore their gender identities and sexualities and feature a non-binary oracle, a lesbian relationship, and a genderfluid disguise.

The show was especially exciting to watch as it was the first production since a number of COVID protocols were lifted. Since the last play, Much Ado About Nothing, where there was a very limited audience and mask requirements, Head Over Heels had much looser restrictions. It took place outdoors and included audience vaccine or negative test requirements and an optional masking policy, and was able to host many more people than the previous production.

Overall, the musical was great! It was all very gay. Sequoyah certainly knows its audience. Some especially fun elements were a chorus of singing sheep and an adorable heartbeat effect to show two characters’ love for one another. Beach balls were also thrown into the audience during “Vacation”, much to everyone’s delight. Congratulations to the cast, crew, and creative team who made everything possible!

Take a look at these wonderful photos from parent David Haskell: