Drury Lane's 'Xanadu' is goofy, vacuous fun

The 1980 Olivia Newton-John movie musical "Xanadu" is generally regarded by critics to be one of the worst films ever made. What can you expect with a plotline about a mythological muse who inspires a modern-day artist to open a roller disco?

So it was mind-blowing that a 2007 Broadway stage musical based upon the notorious film flop fared so well. "Xanadu" lasted more than a year on Broadway while garnering lots of critical acclaim and a few Tony Award nominations to boot.

Now "Xanadu" is trying its luck in Chicago for an open run. The super cozy Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place only enhances the show's daffy and deliberately vacuous effectiveness (the onstage seating allows for some fans to get extra close).

True, the songs may be overamplified to the point where they can be unintelligible, but do you really need to know all the lyrics to radio hits like "Magic," "Evil Woman" and "All Over the World"?

Playwright Douglas Carter Beane ("The Little Dog Laughed") deserves credit for making the stage version of "Xanadu" work as a loving spoof of the so-bad-it's-good original film (not to mention a knock at the 1981 Greek mythology film "Clash of the Titans").

Beane makes "Xanadu" an arch and self-aware exercise in camp humor by showing up the artificiality of common stage conventions and offering plenty of digs at the era's fashions (leg warmers and Farrah Fawcett hair anyone?).

Aiding and abetting Beane is director Christopher Ashley. He finds the right balance of mockery and seriousness for the talented and hardworking cast (many of them on roller skates for Dan Knechtges' silly choreography).

First and foremost is Elizabeth Stanley in the Newton-John role of muse leader Clio. Stanley's perky performance is hilarious, particularly when she sings her songs with breathy over-emphasis. Stanley's over-the-top Aussie accent for Clio's human guise as "Kira" is also a gut-buster (try counting the vowels in her pronunciation of the word "no").

As Clio's love interest Sonny, Max von Essen isn't as hunky as the show's original Broadway star, Cheyenne Jackson. But von Essen does sing his rock-styled notes really high and makes a convincing lunkhead from Venice Beach, Calif.

Also making a memorable turn is Larry Marshall as the seemingly heartless real estate developer Danny Maguire (he certainly knows how to swing with 1940s-styled zing). The show's other two "villains" of Sharon Wilkins and Joanna Glushak both show plenty of sass and energy as Clio's respectively jealous sisters Melpomene and Calliope.

Even with the show's silliness (particularly David Zinn's wacky mythological creature costumes), "Xanadu" does carry a good message of striving for dreams and fighting for love. But don't take it all too seriously. After all, "Xanadu" does end in the mirror-balled revelry of a roller disco.

So don't go see "Xanadu" expecting high art. Heck, don't go if you can't stand the peppy music of Newton-John songwriter John Farrar or Jeff Lynne of the Electric Light Orchestra.

But do go knowing that "Xanadu" on stage is definitely better and far and away more fun than it was on film.

<p class="factboxheadblack">"Xanadu"</p> <p class="News">Three stars</p> <p class="News"><b>Location:</b> Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place, 175 E. Chestnut St., Chicago </p> <p class="News"><b>Times:</b> 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays; open run </p> <p class="News"><b>Running time:</b> 90 minutes without intermission</p> <p class="News"><b>Tickets:</b> $25-$87.50</p> <p class="News"><b>Parking:</b> area parking garages </p> <p class="News"><b>Box office:</b> (312) 902-1400 or <a href="http://www.broadwayinchicago.com" target="new">broadwayinchicago.com</a></p> <p class="News"><b>Rating:</b> For general audiences</p>