After “Xanadu” was dubbed the worst movie of 1980, the only place to go was up. Surpassing a Broadway sendup of the film in 2008 that generated four Tony nominations, Signature Theatre’s season finale turns the critics’ raspberries into into a delectable dish of retro silliness replete with Greek muses, goofy fashions and nostalgia for roller rinks. Remnants of the original score join fresh numbers by Jeff Lynne and John Farrar.
Matthew Gardiner directs and choreographs the cast of local favorites in “Xanadu,” including Erin Weaver as Kira, the goddess portrayed in the film by Olivia Newton-John. Charlie Brady is Sonny Malone, the artist Kira mentors, Sherri L. Edelen is wacky muse Calliope/Aphrodite, and Harry A. Winter as Danny McGuire reprises the Gene Kelly role on clarinet minus the dancing moves. The fanciful, romantic tale is told on roller skates amid eclectic period sets and lighting.
Edelen, the personable winner of multiple Helen Hayes and Barrymore awards and nominations, comes to “Xanadu” fresh from Signature’s zany production of “Hairspray.” Next on her schedule is the company’s season opener, “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.” Later in the spring, she and her husband, Thomas Adrian Simpson, will star in the Round House Theatre production of “I Do, I Do.”
| If you go |
| ‘Xanadu’ |
| Where: Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington |
| When: Through July 1 |
| Info: $62 to $76.15; 703-820-9771; 703-573-SEAT (7328); ticketmaster.com |
“The movie was hard to watch it was so bad, but the tongue-in-cheek approach by our writers makes stupid seem fun,” Edelen said. “We’re going for broke in comedy, and the silliness of it all cracks us up. The first rehearsals were at skate camp, where we learned how to roller skate safely and do different things on our skates. I grew up with a roller rink across the street from my grade school, so it was pretty easy for me.”
Brady remembers whizzing around his high school campus on inline skates and quickly caught up because skating, like riding a bicycle, is a skill you don’t forget.
“The whole session on toe stops was fun,” he said. “The end number is long and took more time to learn than anticipated. Unlike the studio where we practice, the stage has a drop-off, so they put mattresses around the perimeter of the stage to prevent us from falling. We still skate an hour every morning to keep sharp.
“This show is a blast. There are so many elements to it, from roller skating to the lights and technical elements that are amazing. I watched the movie when I knew I’d be doing the show, but fell asleep. It was hard to keep attentive even though it was the last big thing Olivia Newton-John did.”
Brady grew up in San Diego, where he acted locally as a child and on the Disney Channel in Los Angeles as a teenager, giving it up the last years of high school to avoid missing out on the social life. After graduation, he reverted to his first love, entered Carnegie Mellon University and spent the next four years shivering in Pittsburgh.
His credits include tours in “Mamma Mia!” and “Les Miserables,” followed by two years in the Broadway company of “South Pacific.”
Though he gravitates to musicals, Brady has serious, dramatic roles in his repertoire. Nothing he has done, however, compares to “Xanadu.”
“This show takes so many liberties that go beyond logic,” he said. “You can’t help laughing at the outrageous humor and the costumes that blow your mind. Mine is the iconic cutoff shorts that seem to get shorter each day, high tube socks and a tie-dye T-shirt. The audience will laugh their faces off and leave the theater humming the tunes.”
