Xanadu plays final performance on Broadway

The Broadway musical Xanadu plays its final performance at the Helen Hayes Theatre on 28 Sep 2008 - the show had been booking through to 4 Jan 2009. When the musical closes it will have played 512 regular performances and 49 previews.

The producers originally posted early closing notices on 16 Sep 2008, announcing that the musical would close on 12 Oct 2008. On the 23 Sep 2008 they announced that the musical's closing date had been moved forward to 28 Sep 2008, stating that "the decision to close the show early was made to avoid losses in the current economic climate."

Xanadu opened on Broadway at the Helen Hayes Theatre on 10 Jul, following previews from 23 May 2007.

The musical opened to mixed, but mostly positive reviews: "Outlandishly enjoyable." (New York Times); "Delightfully inspired." (New York Daily News); "An absolutely ghastly show." (New York Post); "A goofy glitterball of a musical." (Star-Ledger); "Slipshod enterprise." (Hollywood Reporter); "Refreshingly unassuming crowd-pleaser."

Xanadu was the recipient of the 2008 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Broadway Musical, and four 2008 Tony Award nominations ( Best Musical, Kerry Butler for Best Actress in a Musical, Douglas Carter Beane for Best Book, Dan Knechtges for Best Choreography and Best New Musical).

In Xanadu, which is based on the mega-flop musical movie of the same name, 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.

Directed by Christopher Ashley, with choreography by Dan Knechtges, Xanadu features Kerry Butler (Kira), Cheyenne Jackson (Sonny Malone), Tony Roberts (Danny), Jackie Hoffman (Calliope), Mary Testa (Melpomeny), Andre Ward (Terpsicore), Kyle Dean Massey (Thaliar), Kenita R. Miller (Erato) and Patti Murin (Euterpe).

The creative team includes David Gallo (sets), Howell Binkley (lighting) and David Zinn (costumes).

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

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.

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.

The Broadway musical features many of the film's songs, with extra material provided by the Electic Light Orchestra. Eric Stern is the shows musical director.

Xanadu will play at the La Jolla Playhouse in California in November, followed by a six month engagement at Chicago's Drury Lane Theatre, followed by a national tour. The premiere foreign production just opened in Seoul, Korea. Plans are underway for productions in London (co-produced with David Ian and John Gore), China, Australia and the Philippines.