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Greek muses. An Olivia Newton-John film that many hail as the worst movie ever made. Leg warmers. Actors zooming around on roller skates, just begging for unflattering comparisons to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1984 travesty, Starlight Express.
You wouldn’t think that you’d want any combination of these things in a Broadway musical. But Xanadu, which opened on Broadway last July after two months of previews, has all of them. And surprisingly, as far as I can tell from the cast recording, it actually works.
And it works because even though the 1980 movie was a flop, one of the only good things about it was the music. The Broadway musical features updated arrangements of the nine songs from the film, plus Electric Light Orchestra’s “Evil Woman” and “Strange Magic,” as well as two songs previously recorded by Olivia Newton-John: “Fool” (based on “Fool Country”) and “Have You Never Been Mellow?”
The show is about a Greek muse named Clio (Kerry Butler) who leaves Mount Olympus to help struggling artist Sunny Malone (Cheyenne Jackson) create a roller disco in Venice Beach, CA. While on Earth, she falls in love with Sonny and winds up creating her own art instead of simply inspiring it—both crimes punishable by banishment to the Underworld.
The songs are pure, unadulterated ‘80s cheese, complete with synthesizers and electric guitars—and I love it. It’s obvious as soon as you read the CD insert with the plot synopsis that the writers and actors involved with Xanadu don’t take themselves or the story too seriously—which is good, because the show probably wouldn’t work otherwise. They know that the plot is silly and the music is cheesy, but they have a lot of fun with it—which, in turn, makes the cast recording a lot of fun to listen to.
Occasionally, some of the character voices sound a little more shrill than I’d like, and Kerry Butler’s faux Australian accent can be borderline obnoxious at times. But overall, the Xanadu cast recording is enjoyable. Highlights include “I’m Alive,” “Suddenly,” “All Over the World,” “Don’t Walk Away,” and the title song, “Xanadu.”
It’s not high art by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s upbeat and fun—which is sometimes all you really need in a Broadway cast recording. If you’re still an ‘80s child at heart, you’ll probably enjoy it.
