BWW Reviews: Xana-do or Xana-don't? Signature Theatre's XANADU

I wanted to like you. In fact, I was fairly convinced I was going to love you. Truly. After I was given the complimentary audience glo-stick, told that my seat was directly under the large disco ball, and instructed to keep my arms and legs away from the stage to avoid collision with the roller skating chaos, I quickly fell into theater "true love." But Xanadu, despite your best efforts, I'm breaking up with you.

Playing at Signature Theater now through July 1, 2012, Xanadu is a musical comedy based on the 1980 cult classic film of the same name. As some know, Xanadu is a reference to the poem Kubla Khan and is the name of the Chinese province where Khan establishes his pleasure garden in the poem. Set in 1980, Sonny Malone (played by Charlie Brady), a chalk artist who has just crafted a sidewalk mural of the Greek Muses, decides that his artistic skills are more than lacking and is determined to kill himself and end his artistic misery. So far, I'm with you.

Thousands of miles away, on Mount Olympus under Zeus' reign, the youngest of the Muses depicted in Sonny's artistic chalkerpiece (not a word, but logic and reason don't seem relevant in the context of Xanadu), Clio (played by Erin Weaver), convinces her sisters to join her in rising out of the sidewalk mural in Venice Beach to help and inspire the depressed Malone.

Say what?

Of course, as would seem the logical next step, because Zeus' rules require that Muses must remain disguised from mortals at all times, Clio decides to wear roller skates, leg warmers, and don an Australian accent before making herself known to Malone. With a name change to boot, "Kira" accomplishes her task of inspiring Malone, who decides that he now desires to combine all the arts and the world of athletics into one spectacular paradise: a roller disco.

To thicken the plot further (or, more likely, confuse the audience entirely), two of Clio's sisters are jealous that Clio is the leader of the Muses and has been promised Xanadu by Zeus, though no one is entirely certain as to what Xanadu entails. They deviously plot to have Clio banished by tricking her into breaking one of Zeus' key rules: Muses must never fall in love with a mortal. The sisters curse "Kira" and Malone to fall in love (despite his ridiculously short jean shorts and odd head-band).

As Malone navigates his way through starting his roller disco, "Kira" and Malone roller skate their way into romance. She is soon completely overwhelmed with guilt over her loving feelings and of having created her own art alongside Malone in developing the disco, another violation of Zeus's restrictions on the Muses (though I'm convinced she's having lover's remorse: jean shorts. Really?).

"Kira" finally decides to tell Malone the truth about her identity, including the fact that her name is Clio. Malone does not believe her and is devastated. He suggests she is a "crackpot", which is probably the one sane, truthful moment in all of Xanadu. Malone doubts that she ever really loved him (and his shorts) and Clio, hurt by Malone's reaction, sets off for Mount Olympus to receive her punishment from Zeus. Zeus' wives ask him to take pity on Clio, as communicated in "Have you Never Been Mellow", one of the more amusing musical numbers in the production. In evaluating Clio's actions and the appropriate punishment, Zeus' wives reference the famed Achilles and his exposed heel that led to his demise. To compound the already ridiculous nature of Xanadu, Clio suddenly realizes that her legwarmers have kept her protected from the evil "love arrows" of her sister's curses, and that she truly and genuinely fell in love with Malone (again, despite his shorts). Malone, who at this point decided that he also is insanely in love with Clio and traveled to Mount Olympus in search of her, offers to fight Zeus for the woman he loves. Zeus is impressed with his gumption and decides to pardon Clio. Malone and Clio are reunited and Zeus reveals what Xanadu is: "True love and the ability to create and share art."

*Crickets*

Of course, in reality, most of those drawn to Xanadu are fully aware of its extreme play into the imagination and complete twist on ordinary musical theater. While the plot is certainly anything but ordinary, the cast does rise to the task of creating a memorable and unique experience for audience members. Acting is in itself a difficult and admirable career - but on roller skates? Weaver's performance in particular keeps the show together and reminds the audience that despite the absurdity of the plot, this is a professional rendition and production. She has a beautiful voice and, oddly, seems meant to have played the role of Clio somewhere along the line in her theatrical career. She hits the comedic punch-lines on cue with solid delivery and ensures the insanity of the production stays somewhere within the bounds of normalcy so as not to lose the audience along the way.

You will walk away from Xanadu feeling as if you've just traveled into a completely different realm of sanity. But then again, theater isn't meant for those who always play it safe. While the dip into this other world was a bit much for me, take the plunge and give Xanadu a shot. If nothing else, your stories will be the hit of any cocktail party.

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