Xanadu

Xanadu is a musical comedy with a book by Douglas Carter Beane and music and lyrics by Jeff Lynne and John Farrar, based on the 1980 film of the same name starring Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly. It tells the story of Sonny Malone when the mural he is painting springs to life and out of it comes the Greek muses including Clio, who changes her name to Kira for her time on earth. She tries to inspire Sonny to to follow his dream of opening a place for the arts including a Roller Disco and to this end he decides to go into business with Danny, a local property developer. Kira falls in love with the mortal Sonny, something that is strictly forbidden, and her jealous ‘sisters’ take advantage of this situation. 

This is the regional premiere of the show which is usually performed with just nine performers but here Joshua has totally adapted it to include over thirty members. A ‘premiere’ for me was that you had to access the programme via a QR code and my thanks to Joshua for sending me an email of it so that I would have an enlarged version! As the audience entered the auditorium there was a young man dressed in athletic gear, seemingly drawing a mural on a cyclorama at the back of the stage which was draped at the sides with white curtains. He quite expressively moved around the stage whilst constantly looking at a notebook and was supposedly listening to a ghetto blaster. Following a radio announcement the young man sat on the edge of the stage, addressed us, the audience, the cyclorama lifted and the figures that were on it appeared and along with Clio/Kira sang ‘I’m Alive’ and it was indeed, a very ‘lively’ rendition. It now transpired that the young man at the onset was in fact Sonny Malone and what an outstandingly top notch performance came from Matthew Alsop. This young man has everything. He is a brilliant actor, a superb singer and his ability to dance and move are exquisite. He most definitely captured all the nuances of the role and his superb singing particularly of ‘Suddenly’, along with Kira, was so movingly delivered as was ‘Don’t Walk Away’ with Danny. It was a truly brilliant performance from Matthew. Lauren Turner was perfectly delightful as Clio/Kira. She brought out the determination, the sprightliness, the inspiration of the character and the humour superbly and for most of the time all whilst on skates and her Australian accent was spot-on. She has a lovely singing voice which was very much in evidence in all of her many songs and there was a lovely chemistry between herself and Sonny. Her telling of the truth to him was just so heartfelt only for him not to believe her and so she calls for Pegasus to return her to Mount Olympus to receive her punishment for falling in love with a mortal. Pegasus was a wonderfully adorned ‘rocking horse’ and shortly after we see a very tiny Pegasus traverse high up across the stage followed by thunder and lightening and a storm that washed away the mural. A first class portrayal came from Gareth Elvidge as Danny McGuire. He was every inch a Property Developer from his attire and his brusque manner and his overbearing attitude. Before becoming this Danny had been a Clarinetist and being a true thespian, Gareth had learnt how to play one which he did when we first met him on stage. Not only that, he also learnt how to tap dance and the routine that he did with Kira was just fantastic. When meeting Kira she brought back memories of a lost love, for whom he had actually brought the theatre that Sonny wants to convert into an Arts Centre and Roller Disco, and he so emotionally urges Sonny not to let go of his love for Clio as he once had done. Laura Whitworth as Melpomene and Chloe Nunnington as Calliope proved to be an exceptional and most impressive double act. Their interaction with each other was splendid and the antics that they got up to were so cheekily and provocatively achieved. They both have fantastic voices and the song ‘Evil Woman’ with the Sirens was an exceptional number. I loved the way they so cunningly and deviously schemed to get Sonny and Kira to fall in love and the scene when they were trying to ‘buy off’ Danny was just hilarious. A truly great pairing. The remaining four muses were all so worthy of praise. They were Charlotte Brough as Euterpe, Matthew Szadura as Thalia who also played Tubes and Cyclops, Emily Skill as Erato also as Eros and Leighton Hendon as Terpsichore who also played Tubes and Hermes. Zeus was most imposingly played by Daniel Ellis as were the Goddesses. Nicola Smith as the very amusing Aphrodite, Bernadette Dales as Hera, and Charlotte Harrison as Thetis along with Bethany Haystead as Medusa.. They all tried so hard to persuade Zeus not to punish Clio and the song ’Have You Never’ was top notch. Sonny does go to Mount Olympus, Zeus eventually relents and pardons Clio and Sonny and Kira go back to L.A and to Xanadu. The whole cast are now in Xanadu with quite a few on skates and the amazingly lit sign is now back up with disco balls strung across the stage. Sonny, Kira and Danny are wearing tops with XANADU on the back, quite a few of the cast were on skates and we were treated to a most enthusiastic and sensational finale. There were so many wonderful scenes and all of the singing from individuals, small groups and from the whole company was just so breathtakingly and harmonious sung and the accompanying various dance styles were so imaginatively choreographed and perfectly executed. I must mention Nicola Smith, Bernadette Dales and Charlotte Harrison who gave a super cameo interlude as the Andrew Sisters. Excellent support came from Bethany Haystead, Tyra Rimmington, Caitlin Wyatt, Olivia Thorne, Jesney Swift and Elisen Knowles as Sirens and from Oliver Broughton as Centaur, Molly Fitzsimmons Flyn as a Young Woman and Kian Mosley as Tubes and Lead, and also from The Muses, Sophie Taylor, Faith Martorella, Oliver Warner, Rebecca Stott, Oliver Lowe, Alice Evans, Everett Van Mierlo, Zara Grosse and Ruby Chandler who also were part of the Ensemble. 

The colourful costumes were absolutely stunning and were especially vibrant against the all-white stage setting. A very impressive and at times dramatic lighting plot, excellent sound, appropriate props (I loved the telephone box) together with the cyclorama all added to make this a most exceptional, entertaining and enjoyable production. Many, many congratulations to Creative Director Joshua Mason, to Musical Director Melanie Gilbert, to Choreographer Emily Skill, to all the Back Stage Crew and to everyone else involved but most especially to the wonderful and talented cast members, your hard work most certainly ‘came alive’. My special thanks to Joshua and the Front of House Staff for the warm welcome and hospitality that I always receive.

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