Xanadu’s next stop…Dallas!

Dallas Summer Musicals bring ‘Xanadu’ to town

11:08 AM CDT on Monday, April 5, 2010

By LAWSON TAITTE / The Dallas Morning News
ltaitte@dallasnews.com

One of the big Broadway talking points two seasons ago was how one of the biggest movie flops in history became a modest hit on the Great White Way: Against all odds, Xanadu was the little musical that could.

The stage version ran for 512 performances on Broadway. The national tour arrives at Fair Park Music Hall for the Dallas Summer Musicals on Tuesday.

Although star Olivia Newton-John was a hot property coming off the mega-hit Grease and the score by Jeff Lynne (the Electric Light Orchestra) and John Farrar spawned five top-20 singles, the 1980 film was a career-busting disaster of legendary proportions.

The songs eventually propelled Xanadu into cult status, a kind of scrawny younger sibling to The Rocky Horror Picture Show. In 2001, a live lip-synced version was playing in Los Angeles. The people putting it on hadn’t bothered to obtain the rights, so it quickly got shut down.

But not before Robert Ahrens, a baby-faced young movie producer with off-Broadway management experience, saw the bootleg theatrical version. Ahrens had learned to love the score from the hit album, but had been disappointed when he actually saw the movie on VHS. Now he was seeing unexpected potential in the material.

“I thought, ‘What if we allowed it to be what it wanted to be?’ ” Ahrens says. “There was a spirit to it, although with the original screenplay, you more or less had to infer a plot.”

Ahrens did his due diligence and obtained the theatrical rights from all five rights holders. With those in hand, the next step was to find someone who could actually create an entertaining story and dialogue to support all those songs.

The producer approached Douglas Carter Beane, then known primarily as the author of As Bees in Honey Drown. Since then, he has written The Little Dog Laughed for Broadway and London and the new musical, Give It Up!, that the Dallas Theater Center premiered in January.

It took a certain amount of persuasion, but Beane finally consented. The playwright highlighted the Greek mythological background of this story of a muse who returns to Earth to inspire a young man to open a roller disco. Two more goddesses – emphatically comical – have been added to the roster of characters. Oodles of jokes mask what New York magazine calls the “aggressively self-aware romanticism” of the story.

“I like doing musicals more than plays because it’s much more of a communal effort,” Beane says.

Despite a lot of advance skepticism, the Broadway version of Xanadu did surprisingly well with the critics. “We got beaten up in the industry and in the chat rooms. It was really great to get those reviews – we were pretty shocked,” Ahrens says. “After they came in, we knew we had a fighting chance.”

Finally, the show scored four 2008 Tony Award nominations, including best musical and best book. Lots of insiders were frankly rooting for it against the less-fizzy In the Heights.

In New York, Xanadu played in the smallest house on Broadway. It will be interesting to see whether its slender, witty charm can fill the cavernous Music Hall.

SPRING AWAKENING Tickets On Sale Friday at 10:00a.m.

WINNER OF 8 TONY® AWARDS INCLUDING BEST MUSICAL COMING TO ORLANDO’S CARR PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE MAY 18 – 23, 2010

Tickets On Sale Friday, April 2

“An unexpected jolt of sudden genius!” – Clive Barnes, New York Post

Broadway’s most talked about new musical and the biggest Tony Award®-winner in years is coming to Orlando, Fla.  SPRING AWAKENING, the 8-time Tony Award® winning Broadway musical, will open at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre playing for eight performances beginning May 18 and is presented in Orlando by FAIRWINDS – Broadway Across America – Orlando.

Tickets for SPRING AWAKENING go on sale Friday, April 2 at 10:00a.m. and start at $34.00. Tickets can be purchased at the FAIRWINDS Broadway Across America – Orlando Box Office, Amway Arena Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations. Online purchases can be made at www.OrlandoBroadway.com. To charge-by-phone call 1-800-982-2787. Group orders for 20 or more may be placed by calling (407) 423-9999 x17 or (800) 950-4647.

SPRING AWAKENING will play Tuesday, May 18 through Sunday, May 23, 2010 with evening performances at 8:00 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, a Saturday matinee at 2:00 p.m., a Sunday matinee at 1:00 p.m., and a Sunday evening performance at 6:30 p.m.

SPRING AWAKENING swept the 2007 Tony Awards® winning eight out of its eleven nominations, including Best Musical, Best Director (Michael Mayer), Best Book (Steven Sater), Best Choreography (Bill T. Jones), Best Orchestrations (Duncan Sheik), Best Lighting Design (Kevin Adams), Best Featured Actor (John Gallagher Jr.).

Hailed as the “Best Musical of the Year” by the NY Drama Critics Circle, the Drama Desk, the Outer Critics Circle and the Tony Awards®, SPRING AWAKENING has emerged as the most talked about new musical on Broadway.

“Broadway may never be the same. This brave new musical, haunting and electrifying by turns, restores the mystery and the thrill to that shattering transformation that stirs in all of our souls.” – Charles Isherwood, The New York Times

Based on the infamous 1891 Frank Wedekind play, SPRING AWAKENING features an electrifying score by Duncan Sheik, book and lyrics Steven Sater, direction by Michael Mayer and choreography by the award-winning Bill T. Jones.

Set against the backdrop of a repressive and provincial late 19^th century Germany, SPRING AWAKENING tells the timeless story of teenage self-discovery and budding sexuality as seen through the eyes of three teenagers. Haunting and provocative, SPRING AWAKENING celebrates an unforgettable journey from youth to adulthood with a power, a poignancy and a passion you will never forget.

“A miracle that must be seen to be believed … The best new musical in a generation.” – John Heilpern, The New York Observer

Set design is by Christine Jones, costume design is by Tony Award-winner Susan Hilferty, lighting design by Tony Award-winner Kevin Adams and sound design by Brian Ronan.

SPRING AWAKENING opened on Broadway on December 10, 2006 at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre, following its world premiere at the Atlantic Theatre Co.  The original cast recording of SPRING AWAKENING won the 2008 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album.  SPRING AWAKENING is produced by Ira Pittelman, Tom Hulce, Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel and the Atlantic Theatre Co.

SPRING AWAKENING contains mature themes, sexual situations and strong language.

Click on and watch the video!! www.springawakening.com

 For more information please visit www.springawakening.com.

Tickets for SPRING AWAKENING start at $34.00 and can be purchased at the FAIRWINDS Broadway Across America – Orlando Box Office, Amway Arena Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations. Online purchases can be made at www.OrlandoBroadway.com. To charge-by-phone call 1-800-982-2787. Group orders for 20 or more may be placed by calling (407) 423-9999 x17 or (800) 950-4647.

FAIRWINDS Broadway Across America – Orlando is presented by Florida Theatrical Association, a non-profit civic organization with a volunteer board of trustees established to ensure the continued presentation of quality touring Broadway productions and the promotion of arts education throughout the state of Florida.  FAIRWINDS Broadway Across America – Orlando is given promotional support by WKMG Local 6. For more information, visit www.OrlandoBroadway.com.

Broadway Across America:  Owned and operated by British theatre producer John Gore (CEO) and entertainment industry veteran Thomas B. McGrath (Chairman), Broadway Across America presents first-class touring Broadway musicals and plays, family productions and other live events throughout a network of 43 North American cities.  Broadway Across America is also dedicated to the development and production of new and diverse live theatre for productions on Broadway, across America and throughout the world.  Broadway Across America most recently produced Irving Berlin’s WHITE CHRISTMAS on Broadway, while current and upcoming productions include WEST SIDE STORY, BLITHE SPIRIT, MINSKY’S, and the DeafWest production of PIPPIN.  Broadway tours include DORA THE EXPLORER, FROST/NIXON, SPAMALOT, CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG and FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. For more information or to purchase tickets through an authorized agent go to BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com.

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XANADU – BROADWAY’S SURPRISE HIT MUSICAL HITS THE ROAD!

Tickets On Sale Friday, March 12 at 10:00a.m.

Producers Robert Ahrens, Dan Vickery, Tara Smith, Brian Swibel, Sara Murchison and Dale Smith proudly present the musical adventure XANADU, makings its Orlando premiere at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre on April 27, 2010 and playing through May 2, 2010.  XANADU, described as “Heaven on Wheels” by The New York Times is based on the Universal Pictures’ cult classic movie of the same title, which starred Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly. 

Tickets for XANADU go on sale Friday, March 12 at 10:00a.m. and start at $34.00. Tickets can be purchased at the FAIRWINDS Broadway Across America – Orlando Box Office, Amway Arena Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations. Online purchases can be made at www.OrlandoBroadway.com. To charge-by-phone call 1-800-982-2787. Group orders for 20 or more may be placed by calling (407) 423-9999 x17 or (800) 950-4647.

XANADU will play Tuesday, April 27 through Sunday, May 2, 2010 with evening performances at 8:00 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, a Saturday matinee at 2:00 p.m., a Sunday matinee at 1:00 p.m., and a Sunday evening performance at 6:30 p.m.

This hilarious, roller skating, musical adventure set in the year 1980, follows the journey of a magical and beautiful Greek muse, Kira, who descends from the heavens to inspire the greatest of artistic achievements – the first roller disco!  Along the way she falls in forbidden love with a mortal and chaos abounds when her jealous sisters take advantage of the situation. 

Douglas Carter Beane has written the book for XANADU based on the film of the same name. The score, by Jeff Lynne and John Farrar, includes the hits, “Magic,” “Xanadu,” “Party All Over the World” and “I’m Alive” — all top 20 Billboard hits.  Lynne wrote and produced all of the music of Electric Light Orchestra (E.L.O). Farrar was also responsible for most of the hits that were performed by Olivia Newton-John in the 1970’s. With Direction by Christopher Ashley and choreography by Dan Knechtges.

XANADU features scenic design by Tony Award winner David Gallo, costume design by David Zinn, lighting design by Tony Award winner Howell Binkley, sound design by T. Richard Fitzgerald and Carl Casella, projections design by Zachary Borovay, wig and hair design by Charles LePoint and musical direction by Eric Stern.

For more information visit:  www.xanaduonbroadway.com

Tickets for XANADU go on sale Friday, March 12 at 10:00a.m. and start at $34.00. Tickets can be purchased at the FAIRWINDS Broadway Across America – Orlando Box Office, Amway Arena Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations. Online purchases can be made at www.OrlandoBroadway.com. To charge-by-phone call 1-800-982-2787. Group orders for 20 or more may be placed by calling (407) 423-9999 x17 or (800) 950-4647.

FAIRWINDS Broadway Across America – Orlando is presented by Florida Theatrical Association, a non-profit civic organization with a volunteer board of trustees established to ensure the continued presentation of quality touring Broadway productions and the promotion of arts education throughout the state of Florida.  FAIRWINDS Broadway Across America – Orlando is given promotional support by WKMG Local 6. For more information, visit www.FloridaTheatrical.org .

Broadway Across America is owned and operated by British theatre producer John Gore (CEO) and entertainment industry veteran Thomas B. McGrath (Chairman). Broadway Across America presents first-class touring Broadway musicals and plays, family productions and other live events throughout a network of 43 North American cities. Broadway Across America is also dedicated to the development and production of new and diverse live theatre for productions on Broadway, across America and throughout the world. Broadway Across America most recently produced the Broadway productions of HAIR, WEST SIDE STORY and Irving Berlin’s WHITE CHRISTMAS.  Upcoming productions include MINSKY’S, PROMISES, PROMISES, MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET and the West End production of BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S.  Touring productions include Nickelodeon’s STORYTIME ADVENTURES featuring Dora the Explorer and DREAMGIRLS. For more information or to purchase tickets through an authorized agent go to BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com.

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Viral videos of ‘Xanadu’ are still a hit on YouTube

Sunday, February 21, 2010

By Sharon Eberson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The legacy of “Xanadu’s” Broadway run is the touring show coming to the Benedum Center Tuesday and the Tony campaign videos that became a viral sensation.

The stage show did get four nominations — for best musical, book of a musical, actress and choreography — but the Tony winner in 2008 was “In the Heights,” whose touring company occupied the Benedum a few weeks ago.

“Xanadu’s” campaign videos are here to stay.

They introduce the legendary Cubby Bernstein, with teenager Adam Riegler portraying the immortal manager and adviser to Lerner & Lowe, Moss Hart, producer Marty Richards and countless Tony winners. Cubby decides to take on longshot “Xanadu” as his latest client.

The idea came from Drew Hodges of the ad agency SpotCo, but “Xanadu” book writer Douglas Beane ran with it, said producer Rob Ahrens.

“Drew thought, ‘What does the show have going for it? They have Doug, a great comedic writer who can poke fun at the industry.’ Why don’t we have a kid do this — that was Drew’s idea. Then Doug fleshed out the name, the character. Casting was a big deal. Adam was ultimately someone Douglas Beane felt strongly about.”

That one of the eight videos (all fewer than four minutes) has been viewed nearly 650,000 times on YouTube “is beyond our wildest dreams,” Mr. Ahrens said.

If he were a man of a certain age, Cubby Bernstein could have been a character in Woody Allen’s “Broadway Danny Rose.” In this fictional campaign, he’s seen, Zelig-like, with stage legends past and present. The best of Broadway swear by him — and many are in these videos:

Nathan Lane, Patti LuPone, Cynthia Nixon, John Cullum, Julie White, Carole Shelley, Beth Leavel …

Ms. Leavel, who recently portrayed the Witch in Pittsburgh CLO’s “Into the Woods,” won a Tony as the lead in “The Drowsy Chaperone.” In one episode of “Cubby Bernstein,” she credits the manager with steering her away from another role and picking the boozy chaperone.

Cubby tells her, “Doll baby, what are you, a meshugana? Nothing’s funnier than a woman battling her addictions!” Cubby’s always making pronouncements like that.

The collected videos are available as a DVD at cubbybernstein.com, where all proceeds go to Broadway Cares: Actors Equity Fights AIDS.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10052/1036898-325.stm#ixzz0gNUJJEfA

Final Florida Engagement of PHANTOM!

For further information:

Amanda Norvell/407.841.4675 

amanda@truemarketingco.com

**National Tour to Close in November **

WHAT: The National Tour of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, seen by over 80 million people worldwide and considered the most successful entertainment venture of the twentieth century,  will close in November, 2010.

There are only six more performances of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA scheduled to play here in Orlando.

WHEN: The final performances of PHANTOM in Orlando will be:

• Thursday, Feb. 11^th: 8:00 p.m.
• Friday, Feb. 12^th: 8:00 p.m.
• Saturday, Feb. 13^th: 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.
• Sunday, Feb. 14^th: 1:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

WHERE: The Carr Performing Arts Centre

Tickets start at $32.00 and can be purchased at the FAIRWINDS Broadway Across America – Orlando Box Office, Amway Arena Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations. Online purchases can be made at www.OrlandoBroadway.com. To charge-by-phone call 1-800-982-2787. Group orders for 20 or more may be placed by calling (407) 423-9999 x17 or 1-800-950-4647.

WHY: The current tour of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA began more than 17 years ago and has played more than 7,000 performances in cities across the U.S.

Based on the classic novel Le Fantôme de l’Opéra by Gaston Leroux, PHANTOM tells the story of a masked figure who lurks beneath the catacombs of the Paris Opera House, exercising a reign of terror over all who inhabit it.  He falls madly in love with an innocent young soprano, Christine, and devotes himself to creating a new star by nurturing her extraordinary talents and by employing all of the devious methods at his command.

MEDIA ADVISORY!!

**FREE EDUCATIONAL EVENT**

What: Chat back opportunity with the principal cast of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA!!

When: Thursday January 28th at 5:00pm

Where: Barnes & Noble at 2418 East Colonial Drive, Orlando, FL 32803

Why: As part of Florida Theatrical Associations continued effort to cultivate theater audiences, principal cast members from the Broadway show THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA will be on hand to interact with and answer any and all questions regarding the show, life as a performer, etc.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is playing at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre now through February 14, 2010.

Tickets start at $30.00 and can be purchased at the FAIRWINDS Broadway Across America – Orlando Box Office, Amway Arena Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations. Online purchases can be made at www.OrlandoBroadway.com. To charge-by-phone call 1-800-982-2787. Group orders for 20 or more may be placed by calling (407) 423-9999 x17 or 1-800-950-4647.

For More Information: Amanda Norvell amanda@truemktg.com / 407.841.4675

THE SENSATIONAL NEW SHOW ABOUT CHASING YOUR DREAMS AND FINDING YOUR TRUE HOME COMES TO ORLANDO

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!!

ORLANDO, FLA. — Winner of four 2008 Tony Awards®, including Best Musical, and the 2008 Grammy®  Award for Best Musical Show Album the national tour of IN THE HEIGHTS will open on Tuesday, March 9 at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre and play through March 14, 2010.

Tickets for IN THE HEIGHTS go on sale Friday, January 22 at 10:00a.m. and start at $38.00. Tickets can be purchased at the FAIRWINDS Broadway Across America – Orlando Box Office, Amway Arena Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations. Online purchases can be made at www.OrlandoBroadway.com. To charge-by-phone call 1-800-982-2787. Group orders for 20 or more may be placed by calling (407) 423-9999 x17 or (800) 950-4647.

IN THE HEIGHTS will play Tuesday, March 9 through Sunday, March 14, 2010 with evening performances at 8:00 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, a Saturday matinee at 2:00 p.m., a Sunday matinee at 1:00 p.m., and a Sunday evening performance at 6:30 p.m.

IN THE HEIGHTS stars Kyle Beltran (Usnavi), Daniel Bolero (Kevin), Rogelio Douglas Jr. (Benny), Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer (Vanessa), Arielle Jacobs (Nina), Jose-Luis Lopez (Graffiti Pete), Genny Lis Padilla (Carla), Isabel Santiago (Daniela), Elise Santora (Abuela Claudia), Shaun Taylor-Corbett (Sonny) and Natalie Toro (Camila).  Rounding out the cast are Sandy Alvarez, David Baida, Christina Black, Natalie Caruncho, Oscar Cheda, Dewitt Cooper III, Daniel Cruz, Wilkie Ferguson, Kristina Fernandez, Rayanne Gonzales, Dominique Kelley, Rebecca Kritzer, Morgan Matayoshi, Joseph Morales, April Ortiz, and Carlos Salazar.

IN THE HEIGHTS tells the universal story of a vibrant community in New York’s Washington Heights neighborhood – a place where the coffee from the corner bodega is light and sweet, the windows are always open and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music.  It’s a community on the brink of change, full of hopes, dreams and pressures, where the biggest struggles can be deciding which traditions you take with you, and which ones you leave behind.

With a book by Pulitzer Prize finalist and Tony Award nominee Quiara Alegría Hudes and conceived by Lin-Manuel Miranda, IN THE HEIGHTS is directed by the Joseph A. Callaway Award-winner and Tony Award nominee Thomas Kail. 

IN THE HEIGHTS is produced by Kevin McCollum, Jeffrey Seller, Jill Furman Willis, Sander Jacobs, Robyn Goodman/Walt Grossman, Peter Fine and Sonny Everett/Mike Skipper with associate producers Ruth Hendel and Harold Newman. 

Tickets for IN THE HEIGHTS go on sale Friday, January 22 at 10:00a.m. and start at $38.00. Tickets can be purchased at the FAIRWINDS Broadway Across America – Orlando Box Office, Amway Arena Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations. Online purchases can be made at www.OrlandoBroadway.com. To charge-by-phone call 1-800-982-2787. Group orders for 20 or more may be placed by calling (407) 423-9999 x17 or (800) 950-4647.

www.InTheHeightsTheMusical.com

‘In The Heights’ Is All Heart

Originally by Donna Larcen

“In the Heights” is a musical with heart.

There’s the tender heart of the narrator of the piece, Usnavi, a young adult with an old man’s responsibilities.

There’s the accepting heart of Abuela Claudia, the Cuban immigrant who’s the grandmother of 183rd Street.

There are the shy hearts of the interracial lovers who must cross boundaries to find their way.

Wesleyan graduate Lin-Manuel Miranda’s successful musical is set in New York City’s Washington Heights during a sticky July Fourth weekend. It’s a slice-of-life plot told through hip-hop/rap lyrics with a salsa beat, longing love songs and slapstick comedy. Its amazing choreography and multi-part harmonies are the strongest points of this urban tale.

Usnavi, the narrator, runs the local bodega, inherited from his Dominican parents, who have died. He is sweet and upbeat, with a crush on Vanessa, the dance-loving dreamer who works next door at the beauty parlor, and a nurturing relationship with Abuela Claudia, his aging guardian angel.

There is a “Sesame Street” tone as the musical kicks off: a multicultural parade of mutual respect, with English and Spanish lessons (as in “brought to you by the letter A”).

Dramatic conflict kicks in when Nina, the cherished daughter of Puerto Rican parents who run a car service across from the bodega, returns home from freshman year on scholarship at Stanford with a shocking secret.

Miranda began the musical as a Wesleyan sophomore in 1999, and it was developed at the Eugene O’Neill Center. Quiara Alegría Hudes (a Yale grad in music and a fellow at Hartford Stage) was brought in to work on the book while Miranda refined the music and lyrics. He starred in the Broadway show as Usnavi. Kyle Beltran is strong and likable in this pivotal role in the touring production, which opened Tuesday at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts.

The show hits familiar notes: the journey home from “The Wizard of Oz”; the ethnic conflicts from “West Side Story,” which borrowed heavily from the star-crossed lovers in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”; and the street-smart characters from Spike Lee‘s “Do the Right Thing.” There’s also a hint of “Rent” in the use of song to drive the narrative and the strong ensemble work.

But Manuel makes it his own, introducing the immigrants’ aspirations, the “what-ifs” dream of winning a lottery and the demands put on the younger generation to do better than their parents.

The music is propelled by an excellent pit band. “In The Heights” won four Tonys in 2008: best musical, best original score, choreography, and orchestrations. All of those elements are first-rate in this national touring production.

You won’t be singing the tunes as you leave the theater, but the music is lovely in spots, as performed by the strong female voices of Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, as Usnavi’s love interest Vanessa; Natalie Toro, as Nina’s mother, Camila; Elise Santora, as Abuela Claudia; and Arielle Jacobs, as Nina.

Beltran’s Usnavi keeps pace with the complicated rapping, which must come out clearly to drive the story. Rogelio Douglas Jr. as Benny, the aspiring limo driver and Nina’s love interest, has a powerful voice and credible stage presence. Daniel Bolero as Kevin, Nina’s father, is believable as the immigrant who feels “useless” to help his daughter and must reconcile with his wife when his macho behavior threatens his family.

Comic relief comes from supporting characters: the sexy, practical Daniela (Isabel Santiago), the owner of the nail salon where Vanessa works; her Jesus-quoting sidekick Carla (Genny Lis Padilla); and Usnavi’s cousin and co-worker Sonny (Shaun Taylor-Corbett), whose surprising generosity in Act II leads to a work of art and a change of heart from the bodega owner.

‘Xanadu’ serves up light, fluffy fun

By Marcus Crowder
mcrowder@sacbee

Published: Thursday, Dec. 31, 2009 – 3:15 pm

Forget knowing Douglas Carter Beane as a masterfully funny and insightful playwright. After seeing the gloriously goofy and entertaining “Xanadu,” Beane will be forever recognized as a master of salvage and reclamation.

He’s taken a lead balloon of a movie, borne in an aesthetically suspect era, and transformed it into an airy, winking, musical theater treat.

The source material is an insipid 1980 Hollywood clunker, starring Olivia Newton-John, designed to duplicate her unprecedented success in “Grease” two years earlier.

Alas and alack, the movie’s ridiculous premise (a Greek muse comes alive to inspire an unsuccessful painter to create a nightclub) couldn’t even gain traction in the cultural wasteland of its own time.

Somehow, Beane has taken that curious potpourri of ’80s fads – leg warmers, roller skating, Venice Beach and the Electric Light Orchestra – and made delicious entertainment hash. In so doing he’s dramatically altered the movie’s main plot and added his own secondary action, giving the musical a slight dramatic nudge.

Mainly, Beane has made the piece terrifically funny through unpretentious self-awareness and gleeful mockery of its origins. The ’80s and the state of musical theater is described thusly: “Creativity shall remain stymied for decades. The theater? They’ll just take some stinkeroo movie or some songwriter’s catalog, throw it onstage and call it a show.”

Pulling it together are the clever lead performances by a charming Elizabeth Stanley as the Greek demi-goddess Clio, come to Earth as Kira, and a tongue-in-cheek Max Von Essen as the struggling artist Sonny. Both are powerful, big-voiced vocalists who command the tuneful pop rock score. Stanley skates, sings, and pulls off Kira’s incredibly cheesy Australian accent. Von Essen, well known to Music Circus audiences, most recently in “Sweeney Todd,” not only rocks the short shorts but makes his silly painter fairly likable.

They’re strongly supported by Larry Marshall as both the businessman Danny and the god Zeus, Clio’s not-too-happy dad. Clio has made the mistake of falling in love with a mortal. Helping Clio’s untimely demise are her jealous sisters Calliope (Annie Golden) and Melpomene (Amy Goldberger in the role usually played by Natasha Yvette Williams). Golden and Goldberger literally chewed the scenery on their signature tune, ELO’s “Evil Woman.”

There’s also a handful of other memorable songs by ELO mastermind Jeff Lynne and songwriter John Farrar, which pep up the thin story. Lynne’s songs include “I’m Alive,” the infectious “Strange Magic” and the title song. Erik Stern wrote the agreeable musical arrangements. Dan Knechtges’ clever choreography simply adds to the hilarity.

Director Christopher Ashley keeps the 90-minute, one-act show skipping along; even so it doesn’t end a moment too soon. Any longer and it would have fallen in on itself, but instead “Xanadu” happily floats away as a light and fluffy thing.

‘In the Heights’ is the ‘West Side Story’ for a new generation

By HEDI WEISS Sun-Times Media

Imagine this: A full-fledged Broadway musical that is NOT adapted from a movie and does NOT involve cartoon characters, witches, animals or even legendary rock stars. Yes, a genuine Broadway musical (and a multiple Tony Award-winner at that), that bursts with heart, moves like a merengue-driven dream on a hot summer’s night, and lives and breathes through its affectionately drawn multigenerational story about ordinary people.

That those people just happen to be Latino immigrant strivers who live and work on an uptown Manhattan street — a place where the apartments are walkups with fire escapes, the storefronts are covered with grates and graffiti, the power is known to fail during heat waves, and the map of the world can look a whole lot like the subway map — makes it even richer.

» Click to enlarge image

Sun-Times Media “In the Heights” runs through Jan. 3 at the Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago.

The show, by the way is “In the Heights.” And though the first-rate national touring company production that opened Tuesday night at the Cadillac Palace Theatre will be in town only until Jan. 3, by all rights it should run here for a year. This is a sentimental “West Side Story” for the “ought” generation, and watching it I could only think: I wish Leonard Bernstein were still around to pat the musical’s still twentysomething creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, on the back and proclaim him his musical heir.

At its center is Usnavi (Kyle Beltran, a boyish, reed-thin, sweet spirited actor who makes the role created by the charismatic Miranda very much his own). Usnavi’s Dominican parents are dead, and he now runs their little corner bodega. But gentrification is on its way, the deli’s freezer is on the blink, and he can only pine for Vanessa (the very natural Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer), who is desperate to move downtown and be part of a more fashionable neighborhood.

I unabashedly confess: Despite decades spent in Chicago, “In the Heights” made me feel painfully homesick for my own roots in Nueva York.