Giddy excitement here! We snagged cheap tickets to see the Broadway version of Xanadu, based on the 1980 movie musical of the same name. The show begins previews on May 23 and we will see it the next day. The show uses a lot of the ELO/Olivia Newton-John songs from the movie. Of course, the big question is can they reproduce (or will they even try) the super-cool finale from the movie, which is the opening of the roller-disco!
There’s a great lineup of talent behind this show, which means it has the chance to be a good show. Douglas Carter Beane (The Little Dog Laughed and As Bees in Honey Drown) wrote the book, Christopher Ashley (Tony nominated for The Rocky Horror Show) directs and the cast includes Kerry Butler (Hairspray), Tony Roberts (The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife), James Carpinello (Saturday Night Fever), and Mary Testa (See What I Wanna See).
We’ll let you know what we think of it and if the movie flop can become a Broadway hit.
Never seen Xanadu? Maybe you’d like to take a moment and relive it if you have? YouTube to the rescue! Here’s the finale from the movie (and try to picture that on a pretty small Broadway stage). Take eight minutes and watch this roller-skating, ONJ bit of movie magic.
Want more roller-skating? Check out my “Music Inferno” post from a couple weeks ago, another 7 minutes of roller bliss!