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NUANGOLA — Despite casting Olivia Newton-John as a muse who came down from Mt. Olympus, putting her on roller skates and featuring her soaring soprano voice in such numbers as “Have You Never Been Mellow?” the 1980 movie “Xanadu” was not a huge success.
“I don’t want to say the movie isn’t good,” said Michael Marone, who is directing the stage version of the musical at the Theatre at the Grove in Nuangola. “It definitely has a cult following similar to ‘The Evil Dead.’ It was very unique and very eccentric for its time and a lot of people didn’t necessarily know how to take it.”
But surely audiences will know how to take the stage version — with appreciation for the music of “Xanadu,” its light-hearted love story between a muse and a mere mortal, and the effort some of the cast members made to zip around on tiny wheels.
“Six of us skate in the show,” said Marone, who portrays one of the muses in addition to his directing duties. “We had some people who had to learn from scratch so we had some rehearsal dates at Skateaway.”
While poking gentle fun at the 1980 movie, the Nuangola show stars Adam Ercolani as Sonny, a young man who finds some much-needed encouragement when he meets “a bubbly, almost Valley Girl type of character” named Kira (Skyler Makuch).
Kira’s true name is Clio, and she is a muse who has come to Earth hoping to “earn the great gift of Xanadu. She’s heard Zeus speak so highly of it and she’s determined to get it,” Marone explained.
Equally determined to thwart Clio are two of her older sisters, played by Alice Y. Lyons and Jer Aragona-Young.
“Melpomene and Calliope are both older than Clio and are offended that she might get this great gift,” Marone said.
The jealous sisters sing the number “Evil Woman” about themselves and how evil their plan is. Along with “Strange Magic,” “I’m Alive” and “Have You Never Been Mellow,” it’s one of the “Xanadu” songs that hit the pop charts in the ’80s.
So, will Clio/Kira and Sonny live happily ever after? Technically, she’s not supposed to fall in love with a human.
Will she obtain the great gift of Xanadu? Or will her jealous sisters have their way?
Come to the show to find out what happens, Marone said. Come to have fun and maybe even to skate.
At one of the earliest shows in the run, he said, “we actually had a bunch of audience members who strapped on some of the skates and jaunted around.”