Xanadu (musical)

The 1980 film on which Xanadu is based barely broke even at the box office and received uniformly unfavorable reviews, but the soundtrack was a commercial hit, as were several of the songs singularly. Although the film was nominated for six Razzies, winning one for worst director, it became a cult classic. Announcements that the film would be adapted as a Broadway show drew skepticism and even derision, even from Carter Beane, who adapted the script.[2]

According to Beane, in rewriting the script for the musical, he was influenced not only by the 1980 Xanadu film, but also by the 1981 fantasy film Clash of the Titans, prompting him to add the subplot "in which Kira’s jealous sister-muses doom her to fall in love with a mortal, incurring the wrath of their father, Zeus."[1] He has noted that the stage musical focuses more on the Greek mythology plotlines but has "a lot of [parody] references to the movie."[3]

The score retains the hits from the film and also includes new arrangements by Eric Stern of "I'm Alive," "Magic," "Suddenly," and "Dancin'," as well as integrating two classic Electric Light Orchestra songs, "Strange Magic" and "Evil Woman," plus Farrar's "Have You Never Been Mellow."

It is 1980, and chalk artist Sonny Malone is dissatisfied with his sidewalk mural of the Greek Muses (daughters of Zeus) and determines to kill himself. On Mount Olympus, Clio (pronounced "Kleye-o"), the youngest, perkiest Muse, convinces her six sisters (two of whom are men in drag), to travel to Venice Beach (rising out of the sidewalk mural) to inspire Sonny ("I'm Alive"). Zeus's rules require that Muses must always be disguised from mortals. Clio has the idea to wear roller skates, leg warmers, and sport an Australian accent, and the other muses agree. Clio changes her name to something contemporary: "Kira". Quickly inspired ("Magic"), Sonny decides that he can combine all the arts and "something athletic" all into one spectacular entertainment: a roller disco.

Two of Clio's sisters, Melpomene (the oldest sister) and Calliope, are jealous that Clio (although the youngest) is the leader of the Muses and that Zeus had promised "Xanadu" to Clio, although no one knows exactly what that entails ("Evil Woman"). So they plot to discredit Clio and cause her banishment by tricking her into breaking one of Zeus's rules: a Muse must not fall in love with a mortal, so they will curse "Kira" and Sonny to fall in love.

Meanwhile, Sonny finds a good location for the roller disco, a long-abandoned theater in the Fairfax district of Los Angeles called "Xanadu." "Kira" inspires him to locate the owner in the phone book ("Suddenly"), and they set up a meeting with real estate mogul Danny Maguire, who used to be a big band clarinetist before he started in the real estate game.

Sonny visits hard-hearted Danny in his posh office in downtown Los Angeles and tries to convince him to donate the theater for the roller disco, because it would bring the arts to the Fairfax district and drive up real estate values. But Danny scoffs, even though he had plans to open the theater himself, once upon a time. As Sonny leaves, "Kira" arrives, jogging Danny's memories of an old love and dance partner of his, who looked suspiciously like "Kira," named Kitty("Whenever You're Away from Me"). Kitty tells Danny that although he had let his greed stop him from pursuing his dream to open the theater 35 years ago, he has a chance to redeem himself now by opening the roller disco with Sonny. Danny finds Sonny and tells him that if he can get the disco up and running in one day, he'll give him 25% of the take from the Disco ("Dancin'"). Excited, Sonny readily agrees.

Sonny finds "Kira" and tells her the good news. She is not impressed with the deal that he has cut. It is then that the evil sisters work their curse, and the winged Eros, along with "Mama Cupid", shoots "Kira" and Sonny with the arrows of love ("Strange Magic"). "Kira" is soon overwhelmed with guilt over her loving feelings and of having created her own art (a hand-drawn picture) alongside Sonny – both violations of Zeus's restrictions on the Muses.

With the help of some of the muses, "Kira" and Sonny fix up the old theater ("All Over the World"), and Danny agrees to go ahead with the opening. Clio realizes that she is falling in love with Sonny and tells him that she must leave ("Don't Walk Away"). But the evil sisters are not finished. Now they offer Danny piles of money if he will tear down the theater and build condos. Danny can't resist and tells Sonny that the deal is off.

"Kira" comes back to tell Sonny that she loves him, but the evil sisters tell her that she has broken Zeus's rules, and that she must tell Sonny the truth. So "Kira" reveals all to Sonny, including that her name is Clio, but he does not believe her and is upset. He suggests that she is a crackpot. He also doubts that she really loves him, and she is angry and hurt ("Fool"). The evil sisters have triumphed ("The Fall"), and Kira sets off for Mount Olympus to receive her punishment from Zeus ("Suspended in Time").

Meanwhile, Sonny and Danny discuss "Kira" and after seeing her in the sky, it all makes sense. Danny tells Sonny not to let go of his muse because of foolish pride as he once did back in the 1940s. Sonny, realizing that he really loves "Kira," decides to find her - even if it means climbing Mount Olympus.

Back on Mount Olympus, Zeus's wives ask him to take pity on Clio ("Have You Never Been Mellow"). Thetis retells the story of Achilles and his vulnerable heel. All the demi-gods and demi-goddesses are so afflicted. This gives Clio an epiphany: She, too, is invulnerable, except for her heels, but when the evil sisters had her shot with the arrows of love, she had been wearing the "mighty legwarmers," and so she must have been completely invulnerable. This means that she really did love Sonny! Kira then declares her love for Sonny and rips off her legwarmers ("I'm Free") and attempts to fly away with Pegasus and Sonny, before Zeus pulls them down with copper chains. Sonny brashly declares that he would even fight Zeus for the woman he loves. Zeus, impressed with his pluck, decides to pardon Clio. The two evil sisters are displeased, the lovers are reunited, and Zeus reveals what Xanadu is: "True love and the ability to create and share art." Clio and Sonny go back to L.A. and Xanadu ("Xanadu").

• "I'm Alive" – Clio/Kira and the Muses
• "Magic" – Kira
• "Evil Woman"– Melpomene, Calliope and the Sirens
• "Suddenly" – Kira and Sonny
• "Whenever You're Away From Me" – Danny and Kira
• "Dancin’" – Danny, Sonny and the Muses
• "Strange Magic" – Melpomene, Calliope and Kira
• "All Over the World" – Sonny, Danny and the Muses
• "Don't Walk Away" – Sonny, Danny and the Muses
• "Fool" – Kira and the Muses
• "The Fall" – Sonny and the Muses
• "Suspended in Time" – Kira and Sonny
• "Have You Never Been Mellow" – Kira and the Greek gods
• "I'm Free" Kira, Sonny, and Pegasus [Young Woman]†
• "Xanadu" – Kira, Sonny, Danny and the Muses

† Does not appear on the cast recording

The following are the casts of the major productions:

Xanadu's opening night reviews from the New York critics were mostly positive. The musical broke the Helen Hayes one-day box office record the day after the reviews came out.[16]

Charles Isherwood, in The New York Times, wrote that the show is "simultaneously indefensible and irresistible... there’s so much silly bliss to be had... there is enough first-rate stage talent rolling around in Xanadu to power a season of wholly new, old-school, non-jukebox musicals, if someone would get around to writing a few good ones... the show’s winking attitude toward its own aesthetic abjectness can be summed up thus: If you can’t beat ’em, slap on some roller skates and join ’em." Although Isherwood praised most of the cast, he noted that the musical "does have a few dead spots in its brisk 90-minute running time.... Mr. Beane’s inspiration seems to have failed him when it came to minting fresh fun from the subplot involving flashbacks to Danny’s 1940s romance. The stage "Xanadu" can't really muster much in the way of an extravaganza, either.... The production is skimpy on both the casting and design fronts."[17]

Hilton Als' review in The New Yorker called Xanadu "probably the most fun you’ll have on Broadway this season, one reason being that everything about it is so resolutely anti-Broadway. In its wildness and ecstasy, Xanadu is a welcome relief from the synthetic creations that some Broadway producers have been peddling for years. Here you can’t count the disco balls fast enough—not to mention the roller skates, the frosted-pink lips, and the glittering spandex that the director, Christopher Ashley, hurls at you like a PCP flashback. Xanadu is far sleazier and cheesier than conventional musical theatre, and it points out just how tame most other musicals are."[18]

PS Classics recorded the original cast recording of the musical on October 29, 2007 and released it to stores on January 8, 2008.

On May 10, 2008, a video introducing "Tony Campaign Manager Cubby Bernstein" was released on YouTube. The video features past Tony Award winners like Duncan Sheik, Julie White, Beth Leavel, John Cullum, Martin Richards and Carole Shelley. Pre-pubescent "Cubby" claims to have been behind 63 Tony wins.[19] Additional videos were released every few days. On the second episode, the producers of Xanadu ask Cubby if he would campaign for their show, but Cubby refuses, saying that it is a show for "the gay boys". However, the producers convince Cubby to go and see the show, which "bowls him over".[20] He then says that Xanadu can win the Tony, creating the campaign's slogan "Yes It Can!"

Subsequent episodes feature more Tony Award winners like Patti LuPone, Cynthia Nixon, Adriane Lenox, John Lloyd Young and John Gallagher Jr., and follow Cubby while he shows the cast of Xanadu the "Cubby steps to the Tony". Cubby makes them sell "Cub-Cakes" to benefit the charity Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS during the one-year anniversary of Xanadu on Broadway,[21] teaches them "the art of the shmooze" and helps them build up their confidence. The sixth and most popular video is the only one in which Cubby doesn't appear. It features Tony winner Nathan Lane and most of the Xanadu male cast.

Xanadu producers never acknowledged that Cubby Bernstein was a publicity stunt, although Douglas Carter Beane stated on May 15 that he believed this year "[Cubby] is going to go with Xanadu".[22] Cubby Bernstein has been identified by Variety as child actor Adam Riegler, who appeared in the 2007 revival of I and Albert and as Pugsley Addams in The Addams Family.[23] Playwright Paul Downs Colaizzo helped to create and also appeared in the series. Xanadu did not win any Tony Awards.

• Official website
• Official website, Australia
• Barter Theare, VA
• Xanadu at the Internet Broadway Database
• Xanadu at the Music Theatre International website
• Broadway rehearsal video
• NY mag article
• Kelsey Osgood's Story of A Book of the Musical for outsideleft.com