RUSSELLVILLE — When the curtain rises at 7 tonight at The Center for the Arts at Russellville High School, patrons can expect to see a flying Pegasus high above the stage.
They will also see students roller-skating and singing songs from the 1980s as the Russellville High School theater department and the Cyclone Theatre present Xanadu, with music and lyrics by Jeff Lynne and John Farrar, based on the book by Douglas Carter Beane.
Performances will continue at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 2 p.m.
Sunday. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for students. Tickets may be purchased at the door or by calling (479) 498-6600.
“Friday night will be a big night. It will be ‘student night,’ and students will be admitted for $3,” said Stephanie Schultze, director of the high school production.
“There will be a drawing for a ‘walk-on role,’” said Schultze, who has been teaching theater at the school for 10 years. “We will draw a name at intermission, and the winner will come up onstage and have a small part at the beginning of Act II. We will also sell neon light sticks that night.”
Schultze described Xanadu as “an early 1980, really bad, cheesy movie that starred Olivia Newton-John.
“The movie was followed by a Broadway musical version in 2007 featuring music by the Electric Light Orchestra,”
she said.
“It has since taken on a cult following,” Schultze said with a laugh. “This show actually makes fun of the movie. It is ’80s pop culture with a love story.
“It’s silly fun,” she said. “It’s great music.”
Among the musical numbers is “You Have to Believe We Are Magic,” which was sung by Newton-John in the movie and was a No. 1 hit for several weeks.
Schultze said Xanadu follows the journey of a magical and beautiful Greek muse, Clio, known on Earth as Kira, who descends from the heavens of Mount Olympus to Venice Beach, California, in 1980. She is on a quest to inspire a struggling artist, Sonny, to achieve the greatest artistic creation of all time — the first roller disco.
Russellville High School seniors Cole Birmingham and Ashley Luningham, who earned the rating of superior in solo musical at the Arkansas State Thespian Festival held in February at Russellville High School, will lead the audience through this roller-skating musical adventure. The show runs approximately two hours, with one intermission.
“Both Cole and Ashley both earned the right to attend the International Thespian Festival, which will be held in Lincoln, Nebraska, this summer,” Schultze said. “Kathy Busch also earned a superior rating. All three will compete in the solo musical category.”
Luningham has competed in International Thespian Festival events since she was a sophomore. In addition to theater, she is also in choir, singing mezzo-soprano. After graduation, she plans to attend the University of Central Arkansas in Conway to major in broadcast journalism.
“My character, Kira (Clio), is a Greek goddess (the muse of history), who comes down to Earth with her sisters (Thalia, Euterpe, Erato, Melpomene, Calliope and Terpiscore) to inspire the mortal Sonny,” Luningham said. “Zeus tells her she will be granted the gift of Xanadu if she does this, although she does not know exactly what this means.
“She ends up falling in love with Sonny, which is forbidden by Zeus. Sonny comes up to Mount Olympus to tell Zeus that he loves Kira.”
Luningham said she first saw Xanadu at a previous International Thespian Festival event.
“It was really weird, but I really liked it,” she said with a smile. “It was so good … I thought we should do it here. And here we are. … I am having so much fun.
“It’s been fun to learn to roller skate. It was frustrating at first. It was a challenge. Now, I love being on roller skates.”
Birmingham participates in choir, theater and band at Russellville High School; he plays alto saxophone in the band.
“I play Sonny, the mortal man, in Xanadu,” Birmingham said. “I knew about the play only in reference to what my parents would say; they would often say, ‘Oh, that’s so Xanadu.’
“Then when I did see the movie, I know exactly what they meant,” he said with a laugh. “I think the baby boomers and those born in the ’70s and ’80s will really enjoy it.”
Birmingham said he learned to roller skate when he was about 5.
“Then I took a decade or more of a break, but I’m back into it now,” he said. “I have improved a lot.”
Birmingham plans to attend Arkansas Tech University in Russellville and major in music education.
Busch, who is also a senior at Russellville High School, plays the part of Melpomene, the Greek muse of tragedy and the oldest of the muses, who resents that Zeus made Clio, and not her, the leader of the muses.
“She places a curse on Clio that causes her to fall in love with Sonny,” said Busch, who noted that she does not roller skate in the show. “She is a jealous sister; she stirs up trouble.”
Busch said she was aware of the Broadway version of Xanadu rather than the movie.
She has been involved in musical theater since she was 7.
“I do have some professional training,” she said. “I have appeared onstage at [The Arkansas Repertory Theatre] in Little Rock.”
She also participates in choir at school and has taken dance lessons for eight years.
Busch plans to attend Missouri State University in Springfield to obtain a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in musical theater.
Schultze said another senior who has a prime role in the production of Xanadu is Darin Parker, who is one of the pit musicians.
“We will have these musicians onstage with the actors,” Schultze said. “It has become a tradition for the senior band members to audition to be a part of our annual musical production.”
Parker said he grew up in a family of musicians. “I’ve been around music all my life. Dad (Philip Parker) teaches at Tech, and mom (Kim Parker), teaches here,” Darin Parker said.
“I played piano and then switched to percussion. I don’t plan to major in music, but I plan to play enough to keep all my skills,” he said.
“Plus, when I can play gigs, I get money,” he said with a laugh.
Parker plans to attend Wichita State University in Kansas and hopes to become an aerospace engineer.
Other members of the Xanadu cast include the following:
• Luke Allen, a senior, appears as Danny Maguire, a successful real estate agent and former clarinet player who gave up his dreams.
• Garren Rasdon, a senior, portrays Zeus and Thalia. Zeus is king of the gods and rules Mount Olympus; Thalia is the muse of comedy.
• Lauren Roberts, a senior, plays Calliope and Aphrodite. Calliope is the muse of epic poetry; Aphrodite is the goddess of love.
• Cailey Koch, a junior, appears as Medusa, one of the Gorgon sisters in Greek mythology who had snakes on her head instead of hair and whose eyes turned anyone who looked at her into stone.
• Addison Smith, a sophomore, plays Cyclops, a one-eyed giant in Greek mythology.
• Katie Walker, a senior, portrays Euterpe, the muse of music.
• Carolyn Etzel, a sophomore, appears as Thetis, the goddess of the sea.
• Cassidy England, a senior, plays Erato, the muse of lyrics.
• Kirsten Cratty, a junior, appears as Hera, the wife of Zeus.
• Dashawn Gove, a junior, portrays Terpiscore, the muse of dance.
Appearing as muses, dancers, skaters and members of the chorus will be Addison Smith, a sophomore; Rasdon; Koch; Montgomery Dodge, a junior; Annalee Drain, a junior; Sedrick Pelkey, a junior; Etzel; and Cratty.
Tap dancers will be Cameron Davis, a junior, who will appear as the young Danny, and Carter Johnson, a ninth-grader, who will appear as the young Kira (Clio).
Other pit musicians include the following:
• Kalley Williams, a junior, on keyboard;
• Vana Ducusin, a sophomore, on keyboard;
• Susanna Etzel, a member of the community, on keyboard; and
• Nikki Messmer, a member of the community, on guitar.
Dewayne Dove is the head band director at Russellville High School and is in charge of music for the production. Matt Foy is the high school choral director and is vocal director for Xanadu.
Working with Schultze will be Daniel Stahl, technical director, and Jannetta Carney, scenic designer.