Product Description

The first smash hit of the 2007-2008 Broadway season turned out to be one of the biggest surprises in Broadway history: XANADU, which roller-skated its way into the hearts of critics and audiences alike. A hilariously reinvented send-up of the 1980's Olivia Newton-John film flop, this irreverent musical adventure, about following your dreams when others say you shouldn't, spins along to the addictive original hit film score by pop-rock legends Jeff Lynne and John Farrar. XANADU follows the beautiful Greek muse Kira as she visits Venice Beach, CA in 1980 to induce an uninspired artist, Sonny, to build the first roller disco (yes!). When she accidentally falls in love with him, much to her jealous sister muses' dismay, chaos and fun abound, skate wheels turn and disco balls twirl. The updated script by Douglas Carter Beane takes the plot and dialogue to knee-slapping extremes, while the legendary chart-topping tunes get a musical theatre makeover via a stellar company of performers. This original Broadway cast recording will keep XANADU in your head, and heart, forever.

Track Listing

1. I m Alive
2. Magic
3. Evil Woman
4. Suddenly
5. Whenever You re Away From Me
6. Dancin
7. Strange Magic
8. All Over the World
9. Don t Walk Away
10. Fool
11. The Fall
12. Suspended in Time
13. Have You Never Been Mellow? 14. Xanadu

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29393 in Music
• Released on: 2008-01-08
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Cast Recording

Amazon.com
At first glance, turning Olivia Newton-John’s 1980 flop musical into a Broadway show looked like a pretty bad idea. Yet the stage version of Xanadu is thrilling and appropriately ridiculous fun. Adapter Douglas Carter Beane went for the camp jugular (thankfully, this CD includes lots of lines from his book), and the cast rises to the occasion, milking every lyric line. Kerry Butler and Cheyenne Jackson bring irrepressible humor and charm to the roles played by Newton-John and Michael Beck, while Mary Testa and Jackie Hoffman provide outsize comic relief as muses. The movie’s songs, penned either by John Farrar or E.L.O.’s Jeff Lynne, are insanely catchy, one sing-along hit after another: "I’m Alive," "Magic," "Suddenly," "All Over the World," "Xanadu." All are huge treats, but the craziest track may well be "Evil Woman," which doesn't appear in the movie, but during which Testa and Hoffman let loose shamelessly over-the-top vocal effects. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Customer Reviews

The Place Where Everyone Is Going!
The season's big surprise hit is accredited to Book writer Douglas Carter Beane, who not only had a ball creating the script, but allows us in on the fun and never leaves us out. Beane takes the material just seriously enough to establish credibility while teetering on the sublime but never going over the top.

As far as the CD is concerned, credit is given to Music Director Eric Stern who has known all along that the strength of the material lies in the songs. Though the orchestra is stripped to about five musicians, and the cast exists of twelve performers, listeners are not void of talent or quality.

Kerry Butler is adorable as Kira, the muse who comes to rescue Sonny, portrayed to perfection by Cheyenne Jackson. This Broadway stud proves that he can not only sing, dance, and act, but can rollerskate as well! Tony Roberts adds sweet affection to "Whenever You're Away From Me," as Danny and is quite enjoyable when playing Zeus.

The Muses justify an argument for a Tony category for Best Ensemble, buy it's Mary Testa & Jackie Hoffman who stop the show with their hilarious rendition of "Evil Woman."

The place where "nobody dared to go" is now the place where everyone is going!

XANADU DOES"
"Xanadu" was notorious for being perhaps the worst movie of the 1980s. The only worthwhile thing about it was the music half written by Jeff Lynne of ELO(Electric Light Orchestra) and the other half by John Farrar whose muse was Olivia Newton John who coincidentally played a muse in the ill-conceived film. The principal culprit in the movies downfall was the screenplay which was dumb and played straight by the actors.

The Broadway version actually opened to favorable reviews and the main culprit for its success is the book which is still dumb but this time the actors, the book adapter and the director embrace the dumb, nay they celebrate the dumb and spin the show into a delightful if lightweight delight.

This time the songs are sung by the actors instead of by ELO on the soundtrack and Kerry Butler and
Cheyenne Jackson are great and old-pro Tony Roberts has a nice role as Danny a forties crooner once assisted by Kerry Butlers Kira.

The CD contains a few numbers not on the movie soundtrack including "Have You Never Been Mellow" a Olivia Newton John oldie and perhaps a slight nod to her since she was the original Kira. The music from the movie was always the best thing about it but now they sound even better on this CD and i bet the songs along with the zany stage antics are absolutely joyful. I had planned to see the show -now that I have the cast recording i really, really plan to see the show.

So much fun!
I picked this up about a month ago, and I can't stop listening to it! It's just so much fun! Catchy and hilarious, this one is a must-listen! If you liked Wicked, Hairspray, The Wedding Singer, Mamma Mia!, Legally Blonde, or other up-beat musicals, this is definitely the next one you should add to your collection.