I didn’t know how badly I needed to laugh until I caught the sneak preview performance of Reno Little Theater’s new Artown show, Xanadu, the stage musical comedy based on the campy box-office bomb of a film from 1980. But I definitely did, and this show was my remedy.
First, did you see the movie? Don’t bother. Noted critic Roger Ebert called it “a mushy and limp musical fantasy, so insubstantial it keeps evaporating before our eyes.” It was widely panned and only just managed to eek out enough money to make back the $20 million it cost to make, yet its soundtrack and ’80s-time-capsule content eventually gave it so-bad-it’s-good cult status.
Fortunately, seeing it is totally unnecessary for appreciating the stage production, which was written by Douglas Carter Beane in the early 2000s and contains considerable parody references not only to the film, but also to 1981’s Clash of the Titans and some good ol’ Greek mythology to boot. The show hit Broadway in 2007, earning Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk awards, a Tony nomination and a substantial stage run. And it’s all well-deserved.
The plot, which is based loosely on the film but veers off course rapidly, defies description, but I’ll give it a shot. The lights come up on Sonny Malone (Hunter Healy), a goofy, sweatband-wearing chalk artist in Venice Beach, Calif., in 1980, who becomes disillusioned with his failure as an artist and his lousy chalk mural featuring Greek muses, so he decides to end it all. But just in time, Greek muse Clio (Ilyana Nightingale), the youngest and most beautiful of the muses, spots Sonny from her home on Mt. Olympus and wants to help, so she convinces her muse sisters to let her intervene, under the guise of an Australian, roller-skating, leg-warmer-wearing mortal named Kira. She hopes this will help her achieve Xanadu, the mysterious heavenly reward their father Zeus has promised (though what it actually is, no one knows).
Xanadu-bound, Kira appears to Sonny in her disguise and convinces him to buck up and follow his artistic dreams. He admits that his dream is to open a roller disco, and she agrees to help, aiding his negotiation to lease an abandoned building with its wheeler-dealer owner, Danny (Chad Sweet). Meanwhile, two of Clio’s sisters, Melpomene (Cindy Sabatini) and Calliope (Amy Gianos) cook up a plot to knock their high-and-mighty little charmed sister off her high horse. They’ll put a spell on her to make her fall in love with Sonny, thereby breaking Zeus’ golden rule for immortals.
Danny spots Kira and remembers his own dream-filled youth and the woman who looked remarkably like her and tried to help him in much the same way. He consents to a partnership with Sonny, and the roller disco, appropriately named Xanadu, becomes a reality. That is, until Kira’s feelings put her in Zeus’ bad graces, putting her relationships with Mt. Olympus, Sonny, and the roller disco in jeopardy.
The outlandish story is fueled by genius comedic writing that is smart enough to know it’s ridiculous. RLT’s remarkably well-cast production features actors delivering their lines with such adorable earnestness, I was on the edge of my seat waiting for the next even more absurd thing to happen and relishing every moment. Every time I thought I’d reached the show’s peak comedy, an even crazier costume or prop would burst onto the scene.
My unending kudos go to Chad Sweet, cast member and RLT technical director, who spearheaded bringing the show to that stage. His performance made it clear he was in heaven. Big thumbs up as well to director Jessica Johnson for sharpening the comedic talent to a knife’s edge. Longtime professional choreographers Keely Cobb and Eric Ventura had the added challenge of working with actors on skates, and they crushed it. And costume designers Suzi Harvey and Sadie Belle Shore are to be applauded for bringing it all to life with as much vibrance and imagination as humanly possible. As for the actors who spent two hours on skates? Chef’s kiss.
Oh, and then there’s this: All the music was performed by a live, seven-piece band, Electric Elysium, led by Branden McKinnon. Members hover above the action behind a scrim, even at points participating like a modern Greek chorus, and their presence added even more joy to the night.
Bottom line, Xanadu and its divine sillinessmade me really, really happy. It’s so fun, I might even go see it again.
Reno Little Theater presents Xanadu through Sunday, Aug. 10, with a talkback performance at 2 p.m. on Sunday, July 20 and a captioned performance at 2 p.m. on Sunday, July 27. Tickets are $30, with student and senior discounts. For tickets and information, visit renolittletheater.org.