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ONSTAGE & BACKSTAGE: Xanadu's Holy Rollers and More
By Seth Rudetsky
10 Jul 2007
Finally, I went to see Xanadu Friday night with my boyfriend James and his daughter, Juli. Oh, wait! First a word about that! James' mother was reading my column down in Texas where she lives and called James and said she didn't think I should call him my "boyfriend" because it sounds a little immature. She prefers "lover." Oy. I tried it, but it's
just too 1978/Jordache jeans/"Gee, your hair smells terrific" and flat out graphic for me. Anyhoo, we saw Xanadu for James' birthday and everyone loved it. Chris Ashley directed all the comic moments so cleanly and Doug Carter Beane filled the script with his usual comedy sass. Speaking of which, I ran into him outside the theatre and asked why he had the nerve not to want Julie White for the lead in Little Dog Laughed (as per her Tony acceptance speech). He said it was because the role was completely different when he wrote it. The character was blank-faced and incredibly cold. She came in to the audition with her high energy and warmth and was completely wrong, but he loved her comedy so much, he totally re-wrote the role for her. So, he said, she was amazing in the part but he still doesn't want her for the role the way it was originally written!
The Xanadu cast is so talented it's mind boggling. Comedy stars Jackie Hoffman and Mary Testa have tons of great line readings and their version of "funking out" on "Evil Woman" is a big, fat brava. All the backup muses sing up a storm and the two leads are brilliant. Kerry Butler is so funny and sounds phenomenal. It takes so much skill to be comically imitating someone (Olivia Newton-John) while still giving full-out soprano yet belting up a storm. She has the nerve to do the "in" during "In Xanadu" in chest voice. I can't believe she sings eight a week, yet after the show she told "actually, this show is really vocally easy for me." Huh? It's every part of the female range!! So, what would be difficult for her to sing? Coalhouse Walker? And Cheyenne Jackson is perfect as Sonny. As usual, gorgeous and hilarious. And, like Kerry, vocally brilliant. After the show, I complemented his incredible flexible riffs and he said he added an extra one for me because he knew I was in the audience! Can that be considered a form of flirting? Let's just say yes.
OK, now it's Monday morning and I have to run to breakfast buffet. My mother just called me in a panic and said it closes in a half hour! Out of my way at the Waffle Bar!
(Seth Rudetsky is the host of "Seth's Big Fat Broadway" on SIRIUS Satellite Radio and the author of "The Q Guide to Broadway." He has played piano in the orchestras of 15 Broadway musicals, and he can be contacted by visiting www.sethsbroadwaychatterbox.com.)
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Kerry Butler and Cheyenne Jackson in Xanadu
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| photo by Peter Lueders/Paul Kolnik Studio |
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