You'd imagine an '80s-themed jukebox musical based on a notorious Olivia
Newton-John movie about a roller-disco to be very, very camp. But actually Douglas
Carter Beane's 2007 stage version of
Xanadu will surprise you. By being so
much camper than you'd ever expected. "Wow, this is like children's theatre for
40-year-old gay people!" is how one of the characters describes it: It's Venice
Beach, California in 1980, and street artist Sonny (Samuel Edwards) has drawn a
chalk picture of (seven of) the nine muses on a wall, but isn't quite happy with it.
To help him with inspiration, the real leader of the ancient Greek muses, Clio
(Carly Anderson,) descends from Olympus. But instead of helping him with his art,
together they hatch a plan to create the ultimate expression of all arts, from music
to dance to epic poetry: A roller-disco in an abandoned theatre called the Xanadu.
