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25 Interesting Things!
Old Arcadia (the source text of the musical) was the First time the name Pamela was ever used
Gwyneth Paltrow was a producer on the musical
The Role of Pythio was played by Peppermint on broadway She was the first woman who identifies as transgender to originate a principal role
The Go-Go's originally started as a punk band but got their first tour opening for a British ska band.
The show is written almost entirely in Iambic Pentameter
Old Arcadia was so influential Shakespeare adapted parts of it for a subplot in King Lear
The idea of Camp has been around for a long time Oscar Wilde even wrote about it
The Broadway musical was originally written by Jeff Whitty but he left the project leaving it to be adapted by other people
Jeff Whitty first became famous fro writing the book to Avenue Q
The plot with both the King and Queen falling in love with Musidorus while he is dressed as a woman is part of Old Arcadia
The Go-Go's orignally disbanded in 1985 but have done many reunion tours the most recent being in 2022
Old Arcadia was originally written to entertain the author's sister
The Broadway director of Head Over Heels played a significant role in developing the script and went on to direct the recent revival of Funny Girl
The word "drag" comes from the theatre were it was used because of how the long gowns dragged across the stage
Other people think that it comes from form of slang called Polari that many actors, circus performers, sailors, wrestlers, and queer men used in 19th century London
A difference between the Musical and Old Arcadia is that Basilius is still the ruler at the end of the novel
In Elizabethan England there were strict rules about what clothing people could wear called sumptuary laws but they were more about class than gender
The author of Arcadia was asked to leave court because he got into a duel with Edward de Vere
The Go-Go's are the most successful female rock group of all time
In the Old Arcadia Musidorus actually marries Pamela and another character named Pyrocles marries Philoclea
Camp became more popular recently as it was the theme for the 2019 Met Gala
The Author of Arcadia died while he was editing it and his sister helped to finish it creating the New Arcadia a different version of the story than what our production is based on.
The Old Arcadia takes place in the Arcadia region of Greece where mythic figures such as Atlanta, Hermes, and Pan were all said to have been born
Iambic pentameter gets its name as iambic means consisting of iambs and pentameter consisting of five beats.
You can learn all of this and more as you explore the dramaturgy website!