Theatre lovers are invited to crimp their hair, flip their collars and rock some leg-warmers in celebration of the pop rock musical, comedy Xanadu running Oct. 12-30, 2022, at Kelowna Actors Studio on Ellis Street.
"This is a silly, funny, splashy, campy show, just what we all need right now,” shares Executive Producer Nathan Flavel, “A couple hours of escapism, to sit back with friends, turn off our brains and laugh!"
Taking audiences back to eighties California, this hilarious musical follows the beautiful greek muse, Kira, who travels to earth to inspire a struggling young artist named Sonny. Poking fun at the 1980 Universal Pictures film, the musical Xanadu ran to rave reviews on Broadway in 2007 breaking the Helen Hays one day ticket sales record immediately following opening night.
“A 1980s jukebox musical on roller skates!” Leslie said, laughing. “Who wouldn’t want to see a show like that? The original movie starred my favourite singer and performer, Olivia Newton-John, and with her recent passing, it seemed the right time to celebrate her and this laugh-a-minute story to life for our audiences!"
“There are no less than 24 mirror balls on the stage at any given time” adds Flavel, “and the cast spends the majority of the show in roller skates!"
A vision in leg warmers and wind-swept hair, Kira helps a hunky painter find his voice, discover true love and build the world's first roller disco (not necessarily in that order). But, when Kira falls into forbidden love with the mortal Sonny, her jealous sisters take advantage of the situation, and chaos abounds.
Douglas Carter Beane wrote the book for XANADU based on the film of the same name, featuring songs and music from Newton-John, Electric Light Orchestra, Cliff Richard, and the Tubes. Songs include “Have You Ever Been Mellow,” “Evil Woman,” with Billboard Top 20 hits including “Magic," “All Over The World, “I’m Alive, “and “Xanadu.”
The New York Times raved, "Heaven on wheels!" And The New Yorker called Xanadu “the most fun you'll have on Broadway.”
The accomplished Actors Studio cast includes Marisa Piatelli as “Kira”, Chad Abrahamson as “Sonny,” Mark Sorestad as “Danny” (played in the film version by Gene Kelly), and Karen Shale and Sandra Merlo as the evil Muses “Melpomene,” and “Calliope.”
The cast is rounded out with muses: Ethan Landygo, Karleigh Martin, Landon Schueler, Mila Prasad, Rhiannon Graham-Knapp, Skylar Naiman and Sofia De Pieri.
Artistic Managing Director Randy Leslie directs XANADU; Music Direction by Spencer Bach; Choreography by Gracelynn Sali and Nathan Flavel as Executive Producer, Set and Projection Design.
Get tickets at KelownaActorsStudio.com or by calling the box office at 250-862-2867.
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