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The Story
Dance and sing your way through this fun-filled jukebox musical, adapted from the 16th-century prose romance The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia to create a rollicking romantic comedy. Themes of female empowerment, gender, sexual identity, love, and romance are all intricately woven throughout this exuberant, dance-heavy story, against a backdrop of hit songs from the 1980s all-female rock back The Go-Go's.
The musical opens in the kingdom of Arcadia, where its people’s lives are governed by a mysterious “Beat.” King Basilius and his wife Gynecia have two daughters—the younger, Philoclea, is in love with her childhood friend Musidorus, a shepherd deemed an unfit suitor; the older, Pamela, is the fairest woman in the land, though she admits jealousy of her sister for not having to deal with the plight of beauty.
Pythio, Arcadia's new oracle, arrives to warn the royal family that Arcadia may lose its famous Beat. Pythio explains that the kingdom has become too conventional and rigid in its ways, and gives Basilius and his loyal viceroy Dametas four prophecies that state:
1. "Thy younger daughter will bring a liar to bed. He thou shall forbid, she he'll then assume."
2. "Thou elder daughter will consent to wed. She'll consummate her love but with no groom."
3. "Thou with thy wife, adult’ry shall commit"
4. "You will meet and make way for a better king"
Pythio further explains that if these prophecies are fulfilled, the Beat will be lost and the kingdom will crumble, but that there may be a loophole. Basilius leaves Arcadia, bringing his wife and daughters along, and secretly vows to take Pythio’s life.
While on the road, Philoclea asks her sister and Mopsa, Dametas' daughter and Pamela's loyal handmaid, for advice. Pamela tells her that the kingdom must come first before romance, even if at the cost of her love for Musidorus.
Mopsa, who has grown feelings for Pamela, realizes that the two may share something in common. When she tries to confess her feelings, she is rebuffed by Pamela, who has not yet acknowledged her own sexual orientation.
The royal family and their friends’ journey continues—filled with mistaken identities, desire, heroism, love, and humor—and ultimately leads them to self-discovery and acceptance, teaching us all that love is love and that we should not be afraid to be our authentic selves.
