Tony Roberts joins cast,design team announced

Tony Roberts is to play the role of Danny in the musical spoof of the mega-flop musical movie, Xanadu, opening on Broadway at the Helen Hayes Theatre on 26 Jun 2007, following previews from 23 May 2007.

Roberts joins the previously announced Kerry Butler who will play Kira, the musical's leading female role.

Roberts was last seen on Broadway when he played Victor Velasco in Neil Simon's comedy Barefoot in the Park (revival 2006). His many Broadway credits include: The Tale of the Allergist's Wife (2000), Victor/Victoria (1995), Arsenic and Old Lace (revival 1986). He made his Broadway debut in 1962 in Something About a Soldier.

Further casting is to be announced.

Xanadu, will be directed by Christopher Ashley, with choreography by Dan Knechtges. The creative team also includes David Gallo (sets) and Howell Binkley (lighting).

The movie musical Xanadu was released in 1980, and starred Olivia Newton-John (Kira), Michael Beck (Sonny Malone), and Gene Kelly (Danny), and was directed by Robert Greenwald.

In Xanadu, the Greek muses incarnate themselves on Earth to inspire men to achieve. One of them, incarnated as a girl named Kira, encounters an artist named Sonny Malone.

The book for the musical is written by Douglas Carter Beane, based on the screenplay by Richard Christian Danus and Marc Reid Rubel.

Through the movie failed badly at the box-office, the film's soundtrack, with music by Olivia Newton-John, Electric Light Orchestra, UK pop idol Cliff Richard, and the San Francisco-based art-rock band The Tubes, went plantinum.

Considering the Soundtrack's success, it is expected that the Broadway musical will feature many of the film's songs, with extra material provided by the Electic Light Orchestra. Eric Stern is the shows musical director.

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Tony Roberts