Xanadu

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 - Xanadu

Movie Sub Categories

live-action
sci-fi/fantasy
drama

Movie Studio

Universal

Cast

Kira  Olivia Newton-John
Danny 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

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