Xanadu
Synopsis of Movie
"Have you ever heard the expression, 'kissed by a muse?' Well, that's what I am. I'm a muse."
First, a goody-good high schooler turned sexpot in 1978’s Grease, then two years later, a roller-skating muse. That’s what we call 1970’s leading role range. Olivia Newton-John had it going on.
When artist Sonny Malone tears up his latest drawing in frustration, the Venice Beach wind carries the scraps to a mural of nine Greek Muses. And somehow (it’s best to let your rational mind go for this one – this, after all, is the stuff of disco camp and the Electric Light Orchestra), the Muses come to life. The nine ladies scamper off in different directions, but our Kira knows where she’s needed most. She bumps into Sonny on the boardwalk, kisses him, and then glides away. While he searches for his mystery girl, Sonny befriends clarinet-puffing Danny McGuire (dancing legend Gene Kelly).
Kira and Sonny do meet again, and she persuades him and moneybags Danny (on whom she performed her muse duties forty years earlier) to open a state-of-the-art roller disco. As the grand disco “Xanadu” is built, romance ensues between the Muse and the Artist, even though the only thing Kira divulges about herself is that she lives with her sisters “on the second floor.”
Alas, creatures of the heavens can’t love mere mortals, and Kira is transported back up to her depressing heaven home (where there is no roller skating and no ELO) and her angry father Zeus. But Sonny bravely goes after her, and pleads that she be allowed to come back for just one night.
Sure enough, Kira is back to grace Xanadu’s opening night. To Sonny’s beguilement, she dances and sings in one of the wildest multiple-personality dance/skate floorshows the 70’s have ever seen. And then the fun continues with a bizarre ‘battle of the bands’ type number, in which a swanky Glenn Miller-type big band goes up against metal rock group The Tubes. It’s sheer cacophony at first, but then the disparate sounds begin to merge into one big eclectic crescendo…and if you thought there was no thematic substance in this roller skate romp, shame on you. Xanadu, quite simply, wants us to see all the good that comes out of tolerance and open-mindedness.
Like Grease, the soundtrack to Xanadu was just as important as the film itself. Songs included Newton-John’s hit “Magic,” the slow and wistful “Suddenly,” and the rousing title tune by ELO. In the roller-skate craze of the late 70’s and early 80’s, believe us, if you played any of these ditties during a sixth grader’s Friday night, roller-skate birthday party, memories jogged back to Kira coming out of that Venice Beach wall and imparting her magic…let’s just say that we all wanted to have a little Kira in our lives.
Movie Release History
1980 - XanaduMovie Sub Categories
live-actionsci-fi/fantasy
drama
Movie Studio
UniversalCast
Kira Olivia Newton-JohnDanny McGuire Gene Kelly
Sonny Malone Michael Beck
Simpson James Sloyan
Helen Dimitra Arliss
Sandra Katie Hanley
Richie Fred McCarren
Jo Ren Woods
Muse 1 Sandahl Bergman
Muse 2 Lynn Latham
Muse 3 Melinda Phelps
Muse 4 Cherise Bates
Muse 5 Juliette Marshall
Muse 6 Marilyn Tokuda
Muse 7 Yvette Van Voorhees
Muse 8 Teri Beckerman
Male Guard Marty Davis
Female Guard Bebe Drake
The Accountant Mickey McMell
The Photographer Aharon Ipale
Popcorn Girl/Xanadu Dancer Lise Lang
Big Al Melvin Jones
Young Danny McGuire/Xanadu Dancer Matt Lattanzi
40's Band Leader Ira Newborn
40's Singer #1 Jo Ann Harris
40's Singer #2 Cindy Leake
40's Singer #3 Patty Keene
80's Rock Singer Fee Waybill
Foreman Stephen Pearlman
Worker #1 Church Ortiz
Worker #2 Randy T. Williams
Nick David Tress
Vargas Madison Arnold
Heavenly Voice/Male (Zeus) Wilfrid Hyde-White
Heavenly Voice/Female (Hera) Coral Browne
Dizzy Heights Marla V. Langston
Xanadu Dancer Clyde J. Barrett
Xanadu Dancer Cheryl Baxter
Xanadu Dancer Hilary Beane
Xanadu Dancer Annie Behringer
Xanadu Dancer Judith Bernett
Xanadu Dancer Teda Bracci
Xanadu Dancer Ellen Cadwallader
Xanadu Dancer Stella Calagias
Xanadu Dancer Lonny Carbajal
Xanadu Dancer Hilary Carlip
Xanadu Dancer Lynda Chase
Xanadu Dancer Contessa Cohn
Xanadu Dancer Derrick Cross
Xanadu Dancer Gary Dion
Xanadu Dancer Marisol Garcia
Xanadu Dancer Miranda Garrison
Xanadu Dancer Sandy Gray
Xanadu Dancer Jei Guerrero
Xanadu Dancer Cheryl Hangland
Xanadu Dancer Yolanda Hernandez
Xanadu Dancer Susan Inouye
Xanadu Dancer Veda Jackson
Xanadu Dancer Michael James
Xanadu Dancer Deborah Jenssen
Xanadu Dancer Leroy Jones
Xanadu Dancer Fred Kirby
Xanadu Dancer Brenda Lee
Xanadu Dancer Dale Leeche
Xanadu Dancer Victoria Marisi
Xanadu Dancer Yvette Matthews
Xanadu Dancer Tykin Mikals
Xanadu Dancer Glenn Nash
Xanadu Dancer Christine Nazareth
Xanadu Dancer Tim O'Brien
Xanadu Dancer Jeff Osser
Xanadu Dancer Shelley Pang
Xanadu Dancer Sally Pansing
Xanadu Dancer Arlette Patterson
Xanadu Dancer Alan Peterson
Xanadu Dancer Lena Pousette
Xanadu Dancer Vic Prim
Xanadu Dancer Melody Santangello
Xanadu Dancer Tony Selznick
Xanadu Dancer Kathy Singleton
Xanadu Dancer Cindy Spooner
Xanadu Dancer Michael Springer
Xanadu Dancer Re Styles
Xanadu Dancer Jim Thompson
Xanadu Dancer Francisco Torres
Xanadu Dancer Bobby Walker
Xanadu Dancer Michael Watkins
Xanadu Dancer Adria Wilson
Xanadu Dancer Darcel Wynne
Xanadu Dancer Noreen Xavier
Xanadu Dancer Mark Ziebell
Xanadu Dancer Tom Sachelle
Xanadu Dancer Paul Sachelle
Xanadu Dancer Kyle Hanford
Xanadu Dancer Michael Donley
Xanadu Dancer Robert Winters
Member of The Tubes Rick Anderson
Member of The Tubes Michael Cotten
Member of The Tubes Prairie Prince
Member of The Tubes Bill Spooner
Member of The Tubes Roger Steen
Member of The Tubes Vince Welnick