Arts & Entertainment

Escapism on skates

Signature’s ‘Xanadu’ is well-executed camp fun

Published

14 years ago

May 24, 2012

Brian T. Carney

‘Xanadu’
Signature Theatre
4200 Campbell Ave.
Arlington, VA
Through July 1
703-820-9771

Charlie Brady, center, as Sonny in Signature’s ‘Xanadu.’ (Photo by Scott Suchman; courtesy Signature)

The “Xanadu” chracter Muse Calliope is onto something when she says the roller derby in the show is like “children’s theater for 40-year-old gay people.”

On stage now at Arlington’s Signature Theatre, this trashy movie-turned-Tony-winning Broadway adaptation is near-perfect theatrical escapism.

It’s based on the 1980 turkey that derailed the budding movie career of singer Olivia Newton-John and that featured the last movie appearance of the legendary dancer Gene Kelly as the tycoon who has chosen commerce over art. The basic plot remains the same.

Clio (Erin Weaver) is the leader of the Muses, the Greek demigoddesses who bring artistic inspiration to mortals. Disguised an Australian woman named Kira (a comic nod to Newton-John’s indelible cinematic performance), she descends to earth to bolster the confidence of Sonny (Charlie Brady), a sidewalk artist who dreams of opening a roller disco. She also encounters Danny, a real estate mogul who rejected Kira’s inspiration. Danny still owns the theater he built under her influence, and he and Sonny become business partners. Needless to say, despite a few curses, several broken rules, and some heartbreak and confusion, Sonny and Kira/Clio fall in love and skate off to their happy ending.

Writer Douglas Carter Beane (“The Little Dog Laughed” and “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar”) nimbly fleshes out the movie plot with campy pop culture references and a delicious new subplot featuring the nasty machinations of Clio’s jealous sisters, the muses Melpomene and Calliope. He also expands the movie soundtrack with other period pop tunes by Jeff Lynne (ELO) and John Farrar. As you might expect, the openly gay Beane brings a light touch to the clichéd plot, but he also brings some unexpected emotional depth to the story. Although the evening moves along briskly (90 minutes without an intermission), there are some slow spots (most notably the flashbacks between the ageless Clio and the young Danny) and Beane’s adaptation never fully embraces the movie’s sappy-yet-moving theme that the elusive Xanadu is the pursuit of love and art.

Under the assured hand of director and choreographer Matthew Gardiner, Signature Theatre’s openly gay associate artistic director, the creative team stitches together a frothy and effective show that is truly “an Acme of all the arts” (to use Sonny’s description of his roller disco dreams). Gardiner’s witty and energetic choreography cannily combines a send-up of disco moves for the mortals with a spoof of Martha Graham routines for the Muses and Greek gods.

He gets solid support from his designers, especially the lighting by Chris Lee (with the mandatory mirror balls) and the costumes by Kathleen Geldard (with lovely flowing Grecian robes, the requisite sequins and de rigueur leg warmers that play a surprisingly important role in the plot). They mine the comedy for all it’s worth, hit all of the right notes of the 1980s pop score (kudos to Music Director Gabriel Mangiante and his four-piece band) and put together lovely stage pictures.

Gardiner also gets strong performances from his likeable leads and a versatile ensemble that appear in a variety of roles from Centaurs to Muses to an endless array of back-up singers. Brady and Weaver play the comedy just right, with the proper balance of naiveté and campy self-awareness. Both are strong and attractive singers and dancers who bring unquenchable enthusiasm to the bubbly material.

The show shines most brightly, however, when Nora V. Payton takes center stage as Melpomene, the evil Muse of tragedy. She gets the best material in the script and she delivers with zest and finesse. Payton (who inspired audiences as Motormouth Maybelle in “Hairspray” and will no doubt thrill audiences as Effie in next season’s “Dreamgirls”) lights up the stage with her wicked sense of style, an incredible vocal presence and her gleeful delivery of verbal and physical zingers. She is given great comic and vocal support from her evil henchwoman Calliope (played by Sherri L. Edelen who also shines in a giddy cameo as a Francophile Aphrodite, goddess of love). Their duet of the rock classic “Evil Woman” is a highlight of the evening.

The skating, under the guidance of Gregory Vander Ploeg, is impressively staged and includes the tender duets between Kira and Sonny, Kira’s hilarious descent down on a staircase wearing only one skate, and the rollicking finale which brings the entire cast to the new roller disco.

Related Topics:Out & About Signature Theatre Xanadu

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Published

9 hours ago

May 11, 2026

Michael Key

'Studio 69' was held at Bunker on Friday. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

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Arts & Entertainment

Washington Blade’s Pride on the Pier returns June 13 to kick off D.C. Pride week

Pride on the Pier officially launches Pride Week in D.C.

Published

15 hours ago

May 11, 2026

Staff reports

The Washington Blade’s annual Pride on the Pier celebration returns to The Wharf on Saturday, June 13, 2026 from 4-9 p.m., bringing thousands of LGBTQ community members and allies together for an unforgettable waterfront celebration to kick off Pride week in Washington, D.C.

Now in its eighth year, Washington Blade Pride on the Pier extends the city’s annual celebration of LGBTQ visibility to the bustling Wharf waterfront with an exciting array of activities and entertainment for all ages. The District Pier will offer DJs, dancing, drag, and other entertainment. Alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase for those 21 and older.

“Pride on the Pier has become one of the signature moments of Pride in D.C.,” said Lynne Brown, publisher of the Washington Blade. “There’s nothing like watching our community come together on the waterfront with live music and incredible energy as we kick off Pride week.”

Pride on the Pier is free and open to the public, with VIP tickets available for exclusive pier access to the Dockmaster Building. To purchase VIP tickets visit www.prideonthepierdc.com/vip.

Additional entertainment announcements, sponsor activations, and event details will be released in the coming weeks.

Event Details:

📍 Location: District Pier at The Wharf (101 District Sq SW, Washington, DC)
📅 Dates: Friday, 13, 2026

⏱️ 4-9PM
🎟️ VIP Tickets: www.PrideOnThePierDC.com/VIP

Theater

National tour of ‘Gatsby’ comes to National Theatre

Out actor Edward Staudenmayer talks playing the show’s gangster

Published

1 day ago

May 10, 2026

Patrick Folliard

Edward Staudenmayer plays Meyer Wolfsheim in ‘The Great Gatsby.’ (Photo courtesy National Theatre)

‘The Great Gatsby’
May 12-24
The National Theatre
1321 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
$59-$196
Thenationaldc.com

Often dubbed “The Great American Novel” for its depiction of ambition and self-invention alongside the reversals of success, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” says it all in a fast read.

Set against the excesses and energy of the Roaring Twenties, “The Great Gatsby,” novel and now the same-titled hit Broadway musical with a jazz/pop original score by Jason Howland and Nathan Tysen, tells the story of Nick Carraway and his friendship with Jay Gatsby, an enigmatic millionaire intent on reuniting with ex-lover, Daisy Buchanan.

It was during a four-month 2025 run in Seoul, South Korea, that out actor Edward Staudenmayer first played the show’s heavy, Meyer Wolfsheim, a gangster who helped Gatsby make his murkily acquired fortune. As Meyer, Staudenmayer opens the second act with, appropriately enough, “Shady.”

Now three months into a year-long North American tour, the show is poised to enjoy a brief run at Washington’s National Theatre (5/12-5/24).

While putting on his eyeliner prior to a recent Wednesday matinee at Chicago’s Cadillac Palace Theatre, the upstate New York-based actor shared about Gatsby and a life in theater.

WASHINGTON BLADE: Despite your good looks and terrific voice, you’re rarely the leading the man. How is that?

EDWARD STAUDENMAYER: I’m definitely a character man. I’ve been painting lines on my face to play old men since I was in high school. I was the youngest freshman in college playing old Uncle Sorin [in Chekhov’s “The Seagull”].

There have been many villains. Some darker than others. Meyer Wolfsheim is a very bad guy, but he doesn’t haunt me once I’m offstage. I play a lot of pickleball.

BLADE: Is it true that like so many of Fitzgerald’s characters, Wolfsheim is famously based on someone the writer encountered in life.

STAUDENMEYER: That’s true, Wolfsheim is pretty much a direct portrayal of real-life mobster and 1919 World Series fixer [Arnold Rothstein].

BLADE: When did the 1925 novel first surface on your radar?

STAUDENMAYER: Like many of us, I was assigned “The Great Gatsby” in high school. It was short, and filled with sex and illicit activities. I thought it was great. Definitely wasn’t a Judy Blume novel.

Interestingly, the book wasn’t originally a huge a success for Fitzgerald, but because it was about war and having the girl at home, they gave it to GIs leaving for WWII. After returning, a lot of those guys went on the GI Bill and became English teachers. They assigned the book to their students.

BLADE The idea that the book’s first-person narrator, Nick Carraway, is gay and enamored with Jay Gatsby is long discussed among readers and scholars. Does the musical touch on that?

STAUDENMAYER: Yes, there’s conjecture about Jay and Nick, and it’s implied in our show. It’s also implied about Jordan Baker, Jay’s fleeting romantic interest. Ultimately, she’s a confirmed bachelor, and a professional golfer who only wears pants.

Our performers are really good. Josh Grasso who plays Nick is fantastic. I’ve had to stop watching him in his last scene; it’s not good for Meyer Wolfsheim to take his curtain call crying. Our Gatsby, Jake David Smith, is good too. He’s gorgeous like Superman and sings like an angel.

BLADE: Do you ever imagine backstory for your characters whose sexuality is undefined?

STAUDENMAYER: I do, but not with Wolfsheim. I don’t see it. I’m trying to be as butch as possible with this ruthless killer.

BLADE: Have you had to do that in your career?

STAUDENMAYER: For a long time, I wore a mask to hide my gayness. I worked hard on being believable, that I was into the girl or that I was a tough guy.

It’s a different world now, and it’s so refreshing to be around the younger actors today; they’re remarkably open and comfortable.

BLADE: What was your coming of age like?

STAUDENMAYER: I played high school football in Palm Springs [he chuckles, alluding to the arid gay mecca], and I was pretty good too. But much to the chagrin of my parents and coaches, I quit the team to act in our senior year play. My super butch dad played semi-pro football and he was an ex-cop. I’m named after him. While I didn’t become my dad, I’ve played him often on stage. He was a true Gaston [the bumptious rival in “Beauty and the Beast”]. And like Gaston, he used antlers in all his interior decorating.

BLADE: Did he live to see your success in theater?

STAUDENMAYER: He did. Life was challenging growing up but the last 10 years of his life we couldn’t get off the phone with each other [his voice catches with emotion]. He accepted me entirely, and we became very close.

BLADE: Looking ahead, is there a part you’d especially like to play?

STAUDENMAYER: Like all baritones I’d love to play Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd.” I’ve come close but it hasn’t happened yet. There’s still time.