[NEohioPAL] Xanadu opens Weathervane's 79th Season

[Janis Harcar]

Weathervane Playhouse Opens its 79th Season with the Hilarious, Roller-Skating

Musical Adventure “Xanadu”

Humorous, Satirical Spoof of the Cult-Classic 1980 Film Celebrates Following Your Dreams in Pursuit of Truth, Beauty and Love

Grab your leg warmers and roller skates! Weathervane Playhouse travels back to the 1980s to open its 79th season with the hilarious, roller-skating musical adventure Xanadu – the campy musical comedy that celebrates following your dreams no matter what obstacles cross your path! See it live on stage from Sept. 5 to 22, 2013.

Xanadu follows the journey of a magical and beautiful Greek muse, Kira, who descends from the heavens of Mount Olympus to Venice Beach, California in 1980. She’s on a quest to inspire a struggling artist, Sonny, to achieve the greatest artistic creation of all time – the first roller disco! (Hey, it's 1980, after all!)

But when Kira falls into forbidden love with the mortal Sonny, her jealous sisters take advantage of the situation and chaos abounds! Even when faced with the threat of eternal banishment to the underworld, Kira finds that she must maneuver around her scheming sisters in order to make Sonny’s dream come true – and do it while wearing roller skates!

This silly yet endearing musical comedy rolls along to the original hit score composed by pop-rock legends Jeff Lynne and John Farrar, and includes such 1980s-era hits as "Magic," "All Over the World," “Suddenly," "I'm Alive," "Evil Woman," "Have You Never Been Mellow?" and "Xanadu" – to name just a few! – and is based on the Universal Pictures cult-classic movie of the same title, which starred Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly.
Weathervane Playhouse’s production of Xanadu is directed and choreographed by Gwen Arment with musical direction by John Ebner 

In addition to the normal, reserved seating in Weathervane’s 240-seat Founders Theater, Xanadu’s audience members are also able to purchase tickets to see the show from right ON THE STAGE itself! A limited number of on-stage seats are available for every performance, providing a fun, up-close, and slightly interactive experience to match the show’s overall absurdity.

 

Xanadu Performance and Ticket Information

 

Xanadu plays on the Weathervane Playhouse Founders Theater stage between Sept. 5 to 22, 2013.

The low-cost preview performance is Thursday, Sept. 5 at 7:30 p.m.; the official opening-night performance is Friday, Sept. 6 at 8 p.m.
Between Sept. 5 and 22, 2013, the performance days and times are Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m.
Tickets for the Sept. 5 preview performance only are $19 each. Tickets for performances after Sept. 5 are $25 each.

For performances after Sept. 5, $21 tickets for seniors are available for Thursday and Sunday performances. Tickets for children (ages 17 or younger) and college students are $7.50 each at all performances (including the June 6 preview performance). Additional discounts for groups of 10 or larger are also available. 

Additionally, Weathervane Playhouse’s production of Xanadu will feature a limited number of on-stage seats for audience members. Ticket prices for on-stage seating range between $7.50 and $20.

The Weathervane Playhouse Box Office is open Mondays between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., Tuesdays through Fridays between 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. and is also open beginning one hour before each performance. For tickets, visit or call the Weathervane Box Office at 330-836-2626 during Box Office hours or connect online to www.weathervaneplayhouse.com.

The Xanadu Cast

RACHEL BALKO
Clio/Kira

SCOTT MIESSE
Sonny Malone

THOMAS BAUMGARDNER
Danny Maguire, Zeus

PATRICK DUKEMAN
Calliope, Aphrodite

KATHY ASHCROFT
Melpomene, Medusa

KEVIN LAMBES
Thalia, Siren, Alter Danny, Tubes Singer and other characters 

ISABELLE POST
Euterpe, Siren, Andrews Singer and other characters

TAYLOR NICOLE BRYAN
Erato, Siren, Andrews Sister and other characters

BRETT GREGORY PARR
Terpsicore, Siren, Tubes Singer and other characters

HANNAH CONKLE
Pit Singer

MADDIE MAZZOLA
Muse/Pit Singer 

CINDI SHAMA

Featured Skater 

The Xanadu Backstage Team

GWEN ARMENT
Director and Choreographer

JOHN EBNER
Musical Director

JEFF BIXBY
Stage Manager

MADDIE MAZZOLA
Assistant to the Director and Dance Captain 

DAVID RUGGLES
Lighting Designer

JORDAN PRIDDY

BRIANNA MACHUGA

Properties Co-Designers

AUDREY FLIEGEL
Sound Designer

JASEN J. SMITH
Costume Designer

ALAN SCOTT FERRALL
Scenic Designer and Technical Director

KATHY KOHL
Assistant Technical Director

About the Show’s Director and Choreographer

GWEN ARMENT is delighted to be back at Weathervane Playhouse for Xanadu after directing it's award winning The Drowsy Chaperone last year. She was raised in Cuyahoga Falls and went on  to do her undergraduate work at the Indiana University School of Music and her Masters in Theater History at Hunter College in Manhattan. She also studied acting at London’s National Theater.  Based in New York City, she performed there as well as on tour and in regional theaters before beginning a career in producing, directing and teaching, inspired by her friend and mentor, the late Bick Goss.  In NYC she has directed at the Abingdon Theatre, Theatre 315, The Theatre Arts Center for the NYMF festival, Ensemble Studio Theatre, and for Musical Mondays Theatre Lab, among others. Outside of NYC theaters include the South Jersey Regional Theater; Arundel Barn Playhouse in Maine; Charles Playhouse in Boston, Pennsylvania Stage Company, Mishler Theatre in Altoona, PA, and at the Royal Palm in Florida where she received Carbonell nominations for both choreography and performing. Most recently Gwen directed and choreographed Reefer Madness at Ohio Northern University. As a teacher of professional actors, alongside guest faculty instructors from London's Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company, Gwen produced and taught Shakespeare workshops in New York City and at Western Connecticut State University. In 2004 she co-founded and currently remains the artistic director/producer for Hell’s Kitchen Musicals (HKM), which helps develop new work. HKM produced the new musical Peg O’ My Heart for NYC's 2011 Midtown International Theatre Festival. It won the award for best musical. Among the many celebrated artists with whom Gwen has worked are Gower Champion, Bob Hope, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Dionne Warwick, Barbara Eden, and Eva Gabor.  When performing Lola in Damn Yankees, she danced Bob Fosse’s original choreography, having been taught and supervised by the original Lola, Gwen Verdon.  When not directing or producing, Gwen teaches voice privately. She thanks Vasili and Jerry for their help in Greek pronunciations, Scott Ferrall for bringing her to Weathervane, a marvelous cast and crew, and her husband, Steve, for his continuous support for her love of the arts. This one's for you Bick.

 

About the Show’s Musical Director
 
JOHN EBNER is glad to be back at the Weathervane Playhouse. In past seasons, he was musical director for Ragtime, Putting It Together and The Drowsy Chaperone, receiving a Chanticleer and YACTA Marquee Award for Ragtime and another Chanticleer for The Drowsy Chaperone. John has worked extensively in a variety of ways as music director, keyboardist and accompanist for Canton Cabaret, Carousel Dinner Theatre, Coach House, Ohio Shakespeare Festival, Player’s Guild of Canton, Western Reserve Playhouse and Voices of Canton. He has performed with Arthur Fiedler, Paul Williams and a Billy Joel Tribute band at Cleveland’s House of Blues. John is a retired music teacher and continues to work with local schools in Stark and Summit Counties. It is great to work again with Gwen, Scott, Patrick and Tom and our fantastic cast, orchestra and crew. John is also excited to spend some of his free time with twin grand daughters Anna and Natalie. 

About the Show’s Production History

Xanadu is a humorous spoof of the 1980 movie of the same name, which starred Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly. Upon its release to theaters, the movie received mixed and even negative critical reviews. In fact, one critic declared, “In a word, Xana-don't".

The soundtrack of the movie, by contrast, was a big hit in record stores and on the radio. It was certified Double Platinum in the United States and Gold in the United Kingdom, and also spent one week atop the Cashbox and Record World Pop Albums charts. The soundtrack contained five Top 20 singles: "Magic" by Olivia Newton-John, "Xanadu" by Olivia Newton-John and Electric Light Orchestra, "All Over the World" by Electric Light Orchestra, "I'm Alive" by Electric Light Orchestra and "Suddenly" by Olivia Newton-John and Cliff Richard. Thanks to countless airings on television, the movie version of Xanadu developed somewhat of a cult following over the years – not a bad fate for a film that barely broke even at the box office in 1980.

The stage-musical version of Xanadu began previews on Broadway on May 23, 2007 at the Helen Hayes Theatre and opened on July 10, 2007. It closed on September 28, 2008 after 49 previews and 512 performances. It earned the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Broadway Best Musical and the Drama Desk Award for Best Book. The show was also nominated for four Tony Awards (Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Actress in a Musical and Best Choreography). Following its Broadway production, the show ran successfully on a national tour across the United States.

(Sources: Music Theatre International, the Internet Broadway Database and Wikipedia)

 
About the Show’s Creators
DOUGLAS CARTER BEANE (book) is an American playwright and screenwriter. His works include the screenplay for To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar, and several plays including The Nance, The Country Club, The Little Dog Laughed (which was nominated for the 2007 Tony Award for Best Play) and As Bees in Honey Drown (which Weathervane Playhouse produced in 2002). Beane often writes works with sophisticated, “drawing room" humor. In addition to writing the book for the musical Xanadu, he also wrote the books for the Broadway musicals Sister Act and Lysistrata Jones. Most recently, the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization hired him to write a new book for Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, which opened on Broadway in March and is still running today. As artistic director of the New York theater company Drama Dept., he produced over 40 productions, including acclaimed revivals of As Thousands Cheer, June Moon and The Torchbearers and world premiere works by Paul Rudnick, David Sedaris and Wendy Wasserstein. He resides in New York City with his partner, composer Lewis Flinn and their son, Cooper.
JEFF LYNNE (music and lyrics) formed the Electric Light Orchestra – or E.L.O. – in the 1970s. The group gradually developed from cult favorites into one of the 70s' leading recording acts, scoring international success with several platinum-selling albums, including “A New World Record” and “Out Of The Blue.” Lynne worked as both a composer and a producer with the group, but he abandoned his creation in 1986. The artist then assumed an increasingly backroom role, but won praise for his production work with George Harrison (“Cloud Nine”), Randy Newman (“Land Of Dreams”) and Roy Orbison (“Mystery Girl”) and he has also contributed his distinctive production qualities to much of Tom Petty’s recent output. Lynne's work with Orbison coincided with his position as “Otis Wilbury” in the Traveling Wilburys, an informal “supergroup” completed by Orbison, Harrison, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan. This particularly prolific period was also marked by his work with Brian Wilson on the ex-Beach Boys' first long-awaited solo album. In recent years, Lynne has produced the Beatles lost tapes, notably “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love.” He co-produced Paul McCartney's “Flaming Pie” in 1997.

JOHN FARRAR (music and lyrics) is an Australian-born music producer, songwriter, arranger, singer and guitarist. As a musician, Farrar is a former member of several rock and roll groups including The Mustangs (1963–64), The Strangers (1964–70), Marvin, Welch & Farrar (1970–73), and The Shadows (1973–76); in 1980 he released a solo album. As a songwriter and producer he worked with Olivia Newton-John from 1971 to 1989. He wrote her No. 1 hit singles: "Have You Never Been Mellow?" (1975), "You're the One That I Want" (1978 duet with John Travolta from the movie Grease), "Hopelessly Devoted to You" (1978), and "Magic" (1980). He also produced the majority of her recorded material during that time including her No. 1 albums, If You Love Me, Let Me Know (1974), Have You Never Been Mellow? (1975) and Olivia's Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (1982). He was also a co-producer of Grease (1978), the soundtrack for the film of the same name. Farrar also produced Newton-John's first United States No. 1 hit single, "I Honestly Love You," which was awarded the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1975. In 1969, Farrar married fellow Australian singer, Pat Carroll (who was formerly Newton-John's singing partner). In July 1970, Farrar and Carroll relocated to the United Kingdom and since 1975 they have resided in the United States. They are the parents of Sam Farrar (Phantom Planet bass guitarist) and Max Farrar (Golden Ghost guitarist and keyboardist).

(Sources: Music Theatre International and Wikipedia)

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Weathervane Playhouse and its dedicated volunteers offer vital performing arts resources for the people of Northeastern Ohio. We create exciting and thought-provoking shows with impressive production values. Through educational programs and volunteer opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds, Weathervane serves the theater community, our patrons and our volunteers.

The Ohio Arts Council helped fund this program with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, education excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.

Weathervane Playhouse’s 2013-2014 Season Support Provided by:

The Ohio Arts Council

Akron Community Foundation

89.7 WSKU-FM

The GAR Foundation

Kenneth L. Calhoun Charitable Trust (KeyBank, Trustee)

The Welty Family Foundation
 

Janis Harcar
Director of Advancement
Weathervane Playhouse
330-836-2626 X16
jharcar at weathervaneplayhouse.com



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