New Line Theatre lost six performances to the pandemic lockdown when it first presented Head over Heels, the jukebox musical that inserts a contemporary rock score into a story based on a 16th century romance.

Two years later, Head over Heels is back at New Line. The original production was splendid. So is the revival.

The idea for the show came from Jeff Whitty, a Tony-winner for “Avenue Q.” He wrote the original book, which was later adapted by James Magruder. Their ultimate source was Sir Philip Sidney’s Arcadia.

The borrowings from Sidney include

• The idealized portrayal of country life in the ancient Greek kingdom of Arcadia
• A prophecy that prompts rash action from Arcadia’s king, Basilius
• Elevated language befitting a story set in the past
• Cross-dressing that leads to gender confusion

The dialogue in Heads over Heels may sound old-fashioned, but the show’s approach to gender and its score are contemporary. In Arcadia, the confusion about gender ends at the same time as the cross-dressing. In the musical, the cross-dressing character arrives at a new understanding of gender in a story that welcomes difference. Another character is proudly non-binary. Two other characters embrace a same sex union not to be found in Arcadia.

The music and lyrics are drawn from the catalog of the American rock band, The Gogo’s, who are “widely considered the most successful all-female rock band of all time,” according to Wikipedia. Tom Kitt, Pulitzer Prize-winner for “Next to Normal,” adapted the Go-Gos’ songs, which fit beautifully into the context of the story. The numbers include such hits as “Our Lips Are Sealed,” “Vacation,” “Heaven is a Place on Earth,” “Mad About You,” and “We Got the Beat.”

The last of these numbers starts the show with a celebration of the “Beat” that is at the heart of the Arcadia’s prosperity. A little later, the new Oracle of Delphi warns that the kingdom is in peril. It has stagnated because is “bound by the iron yoke of tradition.”

Pythio, the oracle, delivers four prophecies to Basilius, the King of Arcadia.

• His younger daughter will bring a forbidden liar to bed
• His elder daughter will wed without a groom
• He will commit adultery with his wife
• He will meet and make way for a better king

Basilius withholds the oracle’s full message from everyone except his counselor, Dametus. To ward off the predictions, Basilius whisks his court away on a journey to Bohemia. He expects to find and slay rival king while keeping a constant watch on his wife and daughters.

The New Line cast is excellent. Grace Langford captures the self-involvement of the beautiful the elder princess, Pamela, who has not found acceptable suitor after five years of being courted. Dawn Schmid makes a very sympathetic character out of Pamela’s handmaid, Mopsa, who yearns for an even closer relationship with Pamela.

Melissa Felps and Clayton Humburg are a charming couple as the younger princess, Philoclea, and the shepherd, Mucidorus. They have been friends childhood, but Basilius thinks Mucidorus is an unworthy suitor for Philoclea. After his proposal is refused, Mucidorus disguises himself as an Amazon so he can remain in Philoclea’s company.

Zachary Allen Farmer has the measure of Basilius’s ill-tempered rigidity. Colin Dowd has fun with the fretting of the king’s worried counselor, Dametas. Carrie Wenos Priesmeyer projects nobility as Basilius’s wife, Gynecia. Tiélere Cheatem is a striking figure as Pithio, the oracle.

The perceptive stage direction by Scott Miller is in complete sympathy with the show. The score sounds wonderful thanks to New Line band under Miller’s musical direction. Nicolas Valdez takes over musical director after the first weekend. The dance numbers sparkle in the exuberant choreography by Michelle Sauer and Sara Rae Womack.

Rob Lippert’s scenic design creates a flexible space for the actors between two facing groups of seats. The costumes by Courtney Gibson and Sarah Porter nicely straddle the show’s mixture of period and modern sensibilities. Kimi Short was props master, Kenneth Zinkl designed the lighting, and Ryan Day designed the sound.

“Head over Heels” continues this month Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. in the Marcelle Theater, 3310 Samuel Shepard Drive (one block north of Washington Avenue and one block west of North Compton Avenue).

—Gerry Kowarsky

Photo by Jill Ritter Lindberg