Roller skates, a disco ball and a Greek muse descending to Earth are taking over Matchbox 3 at Houston's MATCH this month, as The Garden Theatre stages its production of the Tony Award-nominated musical Xanadu through August 30. Kristen Herink stars as Kira, the muse who inspires an artist to build the world's first roller disco, with Miles Estes playing that artist, Sonny.
The Garden Theatre, a Houston company founded in 2021 by Founding Artistic Director Logan Vaden to create performance opportunities for the city's semi-professional actors, is bringing the show to Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston, according to Click2Houston. The company made its debut at MATCH in October 2021 with Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods, a milestone that makes this Xanadu run part of the theater's 5th anniversary season, according to MATCH.
A Muse, a Skater and 90 Minutes of Disco Camp
The musical blends romance, comedy, music and roller skating as Kira, described as a Greek muse who comes to Earth to inspire an artist, sets the plot in motion, per Click2Houston. The production, based on the 1980 film starring Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly, runs 90 minutes without an intermission and is staged in MATCH's Matchbox 3 space.
Director Logan Vaden leads a creative team that includes Music Director Jake Cummings, Choreographer Courtney Chilton, Scenic Designer Nicholas White, Light Designer Jacob Zammaripa and Costume Designer Sami Denton, according to Broadway World. Vaden has said the stage adaptation multiplies the film's campy humor “by 25” while adding interactive staging elements meant to pull the audience directly into the action, the outlet reports.
From Box-Office Bomb to Broadway Satire
The original Xanadu movie, released by Universal Pictures in 1980, flopped badly on a $20 million budget, pulling in just $23 million and helping inspire publicist John Wilson to create the Golden Raspberry Awards in 1981, according to Wikipedia. Yet the film's soundtrack went double-platinum in the United States, producing Olivia Newton-John's Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit “Magic” and a UK chart-topping title track she recorded with Electric Light Orchestra.
That contrast between cinematic disaster and musical success helped keep the property alive long enough for a stage reinvention. Douglas Carter Beane's book turned the panned movie into a satire of 1980s culture when the musical opened on Broadway at the Helen Hayes Theatre in 2007, running for more than 500 performances and earning four 2008 Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical and Best Book of a Musical, per the Internet Broadway Database. The score combines chart-topping pop songs written by ELO's Jeff Lynne and songwriter John Farrar, including Billboard top-20 hits like “Magic,” “Xanadu,” “All Over the World” and “Strange Magic.”
Tickets, Discounts and a Nod to Midtown's Arts Hub
Tickets for the Houston run generally range from $25 to $30, subject to a $5 box office support fee, and are available at thegardentheatre.org/xanadu, according to Click2Houston. Houston Life viewers can use the code HOUSTONLIFE for $5 off each ticket purchased through the end of the weekend, the station notes, while MATCH is also offering three designated pay-what-you-can performances on August 20, 24 and 27 with tickets starting at $10.
The production's home, MATCH at 3400 Main Street, opened in late 2015 as a $25 million capital facility built through public-private partnerships to give local arts groups affordable, flexible performance spaces, according to the Houston Chronicle. The venue has become something of a hub for Houston's independent theater scene: Hoodline recently reported on the fake mutiny hitting MATCH next spring, courtesy of Catastrophic Theatre, another company using the same building to stage its work.
