During a rehearsal of Loyola’s production of “Head Over Heels,” C. Patrick Gendusa said he got very emotional. “I told the students, I said ‘The three things I care most about in the world: the Go-Go's, ‘Head Over Heels,’ and you all, all combined in one thing in one night,” the lifelong The Go-Go’s fan and Chair of the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance said. Gendusa’s three favorite things came to a head on Thursday, March 31 when Loyola opened the New Orleans premiere of “Head Over Heels. The show follows the citizens of the kingdom of Arcadia as they journey to protect their infamous “beat” all the while finding love and learning to accept the new way of living, set to the music of all-female rock band, The Go-Go’s.
Originally set to premiere in spring 2021 but pushed back due to COVID-19, this production is Loyola’s first musical to make it to opening night since “Violet” in 2019. “It's such a perfect show for now because it's so much about love and acceptance and love of all kinds,” Gendusa said. The musical’s director, Hardy Weaver, thinks audiences need the joy of “Head Over Heels” because of the ongoing pandemic. “People have been wanting to laugh. People have been wanting to have songs stuck in their heads, people want to jam out, and that's what we're going to give them,” they said. “Head Over Heels” did not disappoint and ran thru April 9 at Loyola’s Marquette Theater.
"It was a perfect show for now because it's so much about love and acceptance and love of all kinds" C. Patrick Gendusa