Post by Chicago Jake on May 28, 2007 22:50:02 GMT -6
I haven't been to a lot of big-stage musicals, but I've been to a few. And this weekend, I found my new all-time favorite.
"Xanadu," now playing at the Helen Hayes Theater in New York City, is the best time I've ever had at a live stage venue. Granted, that is largely because I am the biggest ELO geek in the world, and others' mileage may vary. The Pampered Princess and I saw it this past Saturday, and I loved the hell out of it.
It is based on the 1980 movie of the same name, where a muse (Olivia Newton-John) comes down to Earth from Mount Olympus to inspire a struggling young artist to start a roller-disco club. However, the slant of the stage show is slightly different: It is more interested in skewering 1980s "culture" in general, and Newton-John in particular! It also throws in a healthy dose of criticism of current stage production practice where any old B-movie might become a Broadway blockbuster!
Anyway, the music is virtually all ELO songs, mostly those that were in the original movie, but also a few others where they fit the (slightly revised) plot, such as "Strange Magic" and "Evil Woman." And ONJ's "Have You Never Been Mellow" was tossed in for good measure.
The Gene Kelly role from the original film has been made slightly darker, and is now played by Tony Roberts (the only cast member that anyone has ever heard of).
The best part of the show was its loving attention to ELO detail: every note and every nuance of every song was preserved. Not necessarily recreated intact, but preserved in a funny way. As an ELO aficionado, I had tears running down my cheek from the non-verbal, purely musical humor of what they did with the songs. Very good stuff.
If you are NOT a huge ELO fan, I don't know if you would love it as much as I did. But I suspect that anyone who survived the 80s, and remembers leg warmers with a chuckle, would enjoy this show......Jake
"Xanadu," now playing at the Helen Hayes Theater in New York City, is the best time I've ever had at a live stage venue. Granted, that is largely because I am the biggest ELO geek in the world, and others' mileage may vary. The Pampered Princess and I saw it this past Saturday, and I loved the hell out of it.
It is based on the 1980 movie of the same name, where a muse (Olivia Newton-John) comes down to Earth from Mount Olympus to inspire a struggling young artist to start a roller-disco club. However, the slant of the stage show is slightly different: It is more interested in skewering 1980s "culture" in general, and Newton-John in particular! It also throws in a healthy dose of criticism of current stage production practice where any old B-movie might become a Broadway blockbuster!
Anyway, the music is virtually all ELO songs, mostly those that were in the original movie, but also a few others where they fit the (slightly revised) plot, such as "Strange Magic" and "Evil Woman." And ONJ's "Have You Never Been Mellow" was tossed in for good measure.
The Gene Kelly role from the original film has been made slightly darker, and is now played by Tony Roberts (the only cast member that anyone has ever heard of).
The best part of the show was its loving attention to ELO detail: every note and every nuance of every song was preserved. Not necessarily recreated intact, but preserved in a funny way. As an ELO aficionado, I had tears running down my cheek from the non-verbal, purely musical humor of what they did with the songs. Very good stuff.
If you are NOT a huge ELO fan, I don't know if you would love it as much as I did. But I suspect that anyone who survived the 80s, and remembers leg warmers with a chuckle, would enjoy this show......Jake
