There Were Disco Balls and Legwarmers of Power

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Hi there, OurPDX readers and fellow Fanadus! This is morganpdx! CamiKaos and I are back again, fresh from the Broadway production of Xanadu. Remember our last blog post, where we announced the winner of our little Xanadu ticket giveaway? Yeah, we’re gonna do it like that again. Two OurPDX bloggers. One blog post. More fun than a bucket full of glitter! Or a stage full of disco balls! (Yeah, you’d get that if you saw the play last night. What, you didn’t see it? What are you waiting for?!)

morganpdx: What a night! We seem to have survived our Xanadu adventures with only a mild hangover and…well, I don’t think I did anything too embarrassing, did I? Cami?

CamiKaos: You mean aside from going out in shimmering clothing covered in glitter and quietly squee-ing from your seat? No. Not really.

m: Hey. I’m not the one who brought a canister of glittery powder stuff. And I seem to recall that you were a bit overzealous with the glitter on the left side…

c: I brought the glitter to share in case for some reason I was the only one wearing sequins and big hoop earrings. Oh and the necklace. And the bracelets. And the glitter….

m: And the jacket…it was pretty damn sparkly too. And silver. No I mean SIL. VER. But we should probably talk about the show, and not the fact that we could probably be spotted from space.

c: Fine… you want to talk about the fact that the cast could probably be seen from space?

m: Yeah. The cast actually out-glittered you. YOU. You and your silver sparkly flashy glittery big earring-y getup. Seriously, I don’t want to give anything away, but at one point there were probably 30 disco balls on the stage. AT THE SAME TIME. But guess what, Cami? I actually interviewed people!

c: YES! YOU DID! And do you know why you did that? Because #morganisasocialite… or because aside from the whole “watching the show” part, that’s why we were there.

m: I don’t know why you’d think that.

c: Why I think you’re a socialite? Or why I thought that’s why we were there? You kind of walked around shoving a voice recorder in peoples’ faces while I thought about my shiny jacket… that’s why I think that. I mean the only people I talked to before the show were @dieselboi and @Anna_V.

m: I can see your point. I didn’t think I was shoving my voice recorder though; more like gently placing it close enough to capture their precious impressions. So what where people thinking before they stepped into the fantabulous world of Greek gods and demigods, roller skates, bad 80’s fashion and true love? Well, we, or at least I, interviewed some people. There were lots of season ticket holders, some of whom had seen the movie ages ago and didn’t remember it (which is probably why they were there) and some of whom hadn’t (ignorance is bliss?) One young theatre-goer named Lizzy, when I asked her what she thought it would be like, said “Um…it’s in a roller disco? And there’s gonna be some legwarmers.”

c: Yeah… Lizzy was particularly insightful… I have to say though aside from one other Fanadu that you spoke with I don’t think a lot of people knew what to expect outside of disco balls and roller skates. What I want to know is what you thought of the production. I mean I was sitting there so I know you giggled and sighed and made faces… You got some post show reactions as well, didn’t you?

m: Well, since Robin and Dave (@mizd and @chefchopper) were sitting right next to us, I asked them what they thought. Robin said it was “Xandalicious!” And Dave said he was “Xanadoomed”. I expect because since he liked this, Robin is going to drag him to all sorts of musicals now.

Some of the other audience comments:

“Great, ton of fun, very exciting!”

“Exceeded my expectations”

“We want to rent the movie now!”

“I didn’t expect to be sitting on stage – it was fun!”

“I like the show better than the movie. I loved the show!”

c: How many of those people did you offer to loan your copy of the dvd to?

m: Not all of them. Only the ones who didn’t own it already.

c: I think that WAS all of them. But now… the big question: How did it measure up for you?

m: Oh I see how it is. Putting me on the spot, are you? I thought the play was hilarious. There were definitely a lot of inside jokes that would make sense to someone who’s a fan of the movie. One that I’m sure a lot of people have heard about is the super-contrived Australian accent that Clio/Kira — the fated muse — used to “disguise” herself from the mortals. And of course the 80’s references were super funny, and they certainly took advantage of the generation gap between Sonny and Danny. The only criticism I’d have is that the sound quality at the Keller seemed to be a bit off, as it was hard to distinguish what the cast was saying at times.

c: I don’t think they really had the levels worked out… But the show? It was a 90 minute giggle fest. It was made to be silly. And MAN, can a disco ball light up a room or what? Wait… not that I like disco. I mean it seriously was really bright. I think I was temporarily blinded in my left eye.

m: Probably from all the over glittering you did on the left side.

c: I was trying to blend in. You know… not draw attention to myself. Be at one with the show. I don’t know about these things… I went because you made me.

m: It’s true. I did make you. And soon I will make you watch the movie too, just so you can get the Full Xanadu Experience™.

c: I thought you said I didn’t have to watch the movie. We wrote a post the other day… I’m sure there is something in there about me not having to watch it.

m: I only said you wouldn’t have to watch it before the show. I said nothing about afterward.

c: And by afterward you mean…? That’s anytime later, right? Like next year for your birthday? That’s still after. I don’t have to watch it now, do I? Shouldn’t you wait to watch it until after you’ve seen the stage production again?

m: Oh, I have a feeling it will be MUCH sooner than that. But we did have a great time after the show too, didn’t we? There were more interviews! And more martinis!

c: Yes there were both of those things. With friends, and fans and you even had a chance to reconnect with Annie Golden! I can’t believe I’m telling you this, and you better not repeat it to anyone…. But Ihadagoodtimelastnight…

m: It’s ok. I won’t tell anyone.

You heard it right here folks! Cami LIKED IT. And she doesn’t like disco, hasn’t seen Xanadu, and truth be told, she is not a big fan of crowds. Shhhh, you didn’t hear that from me.

c: You’re a good friend Morgan. I appreciate you keeping that between you and I. And in exchange… I won’t show anyone that photo I have of you in my basement. With that thing. You know the one. Maybe I’ll just burn it.

m: Yes, I think you should burn it. Didn’t you tell me you already had? I could have sworn you said you would.

c: Well, to be fair it’s a digital image. If I burned it, that would mean I put it on a CD or something for safe keeping… you know. In case you ever went back on your word.

m: Crap.

c: On that note, shall we let these lovely ladies and gentlemen have their days back… I mean they already know we think Xanadu is worth going to see, what else is there?

m: Just this: GO SEE IT!