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Tonight we sat out back of the Old Stone House in Park Slope for the opening night of Piper Theatre's majestically silly, irresistible ball of fluff of a musical,
Xanadu, which recreates the 2007 Broadway reworking/sendup of the laughably abysmal 1980 roller-disco-of-the-gods movie starring Olivia Newton-John.
As one of the over-the-top characters exclaims, "This is like children’s theater for 40-year-old gay people!” -- a pretty good match for the large and enthusiastic Park Slope audience sitting on blankets in the renovated Washington Park.
In its twelfth season of productions -- it's been at Old Stone House since 2005 -- Piper Theatre made an offbeat but wise choice in selecting this campy, self-parodying delight, directed with dynamism by Piper Theatre founder/artistic director John P. McEneny, with choreography by Karen Curlee and musical direction by Megan Jonynas.
This Equity showcase production featured a fun-loving, energetic, and musically talented cast who look good in ancient Greek attire, gym shorts and knee socks, or : Alissa Laderer (Kira), Jamie Roach (Sonny Malone), M.X. Soto (Danny McGuire/Zeus), Kelly Blaze (Calliope/Aphrodite), MaryAnne Piccolo (Melpomene/Medusa),
Jake Mendes (Talia), Ricky Dain Jones (Terpischore), Matthew McGloin (Hermes/Dance Captain), Jennifer Somers Kipley (Euterpe/Thetis), Linnea Larsdotter (Erato/Hera), Emily Bodkin (Thalia), and Arielle Vullo (Urania).
Sarah Edkins’ scenery design recreates the Venice Beach of the late ’70s, paying homage to the street art and visual style emblematic to that place and time, a West Coast counterpart to New York City’s more famous underground art scene, only with more pastels.
We were a bit skeptical about
Xanadu at first, but the show is so winningly self-deprecating, so filled with irreverence and charm, with plenty of tasty 70s and 80s musical numbers, so it didn't take long to win us over. It's quite a delightful production, and it made us forget all about the heat and humidity.
More coming . . .
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