About Stefan Halley
Location: Malmo, Sweden
Occupation: Editor-in-Chief
Bio: Stefan has been writing reviews for seven years and started Pop Syndicate out of need to voice his mis-guided opinion.
Posts: 719
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I’ll be the first to admit the Xanadu is not a good movie. It has little plot and the acting is pretty bad. The best that can be said about the movie is that Gene Kelly does a great dance number and the music is the best. Xanadu was going to launch Olivia Newton-John into super stardom. After all this was her follow up to Grease and people had Down Under fever. The film bombed and it was all but forgotten until now. If you love the music of the film, you’ll love the soundtrack to the new Broadway production. It’s the best thing from the film and makes me curious about the Broadway show.
The Broadway cast includes Cheyenne Jackson as Sonny, Kira is played by Kerry Butler and Tony Roberts get Danny Maguire; the Gene Kelly role. Kerry does her best Australian accent here impersonating Olivia Newton-John not just in the spoken role but in song as well. Having played everyone from Belle in Beauty and the Beast and Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors on Broadway, she is a proven talent and her skills really show here. Song like “Magic“, “Suddenly” and “Don’t Walk Away” sound as if Olivia is singing them. The real surprise is how well Tony Roberts embodies Gene Kelly. From the recording he sounds spot on. The duet between Tony and Kerry on “Whenever You’re Away From Me” is just as romantic as in the film.
While the music great, there is an added bonus. The booklet that comes with the CD has a great history of the musical by the playwriter Douglas Carter Beane. Beane also provides a plot synopsis of the musical. It’s a bit more complicated than the film and dare say, sounds 100% better. From his description, Beane fixes some of the storytelling issues that the film has and creates a more magical environment.
But all is not sequined tights, feathered hair and satin jackets. There are couple of songs that just don’t work in the musical. “Evil Woman” and “Have You Ever Been Mellow?” are new additions to the score and they just don’t work. From the plot synopsis, I understand why they’re there and in context of the play maybe they work. As a soundtrack listen, they just feel tacked on.
If you loved the movie or better still, just the music of Xanadu, you’ll find the Broadway soundtrack better than the film. The cast does an excellent job of recreating the musical magic of the film without sounding to stagey. Now excuse me while I go find some Aqua Net, a satin jacket and learn how to roller boogie…again.
