Xanadu, the poorly received 1980 movie musical that was a remake of the 1947 movie musical Down to Earth (itself part of a long tradition of goddess-meets-modern-mortals stories that includes such Broadway musicals-turned-movies as I Married an Angel and One Touch of Venus), remains memorable for only one thing: its soundtrack. The album that accompanied the film sold two million copies and spawned five Top 40 hits for hapless star Olivia Newton-John and the Electric Light Orchestra. (The songwriting was split between Newton-John's personal composer John Farrar and ELO's Jeff Lynne.) Bad as the movie may have been, the music probably was what made it seem a bankable prospect for stage adaptation, especially considering that among the four songs interpolated into the score are three more old ELO and Newton-John hits, "Evil Woman," "Strange Magic," and "Have You Never Been Mellow." The producers of the show seem to have been aiming at the approach that made +Mamma Mia! a hit, that sort of guilty pleasure aspect of people's helpless enjoyment of the pop music of their adolescence, mixed with a bit of the send-up quality of, say, +The Rocky Horror Show. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
Xanadu on Broadway
01/08/2008 | P.s. Classics
All Music Guide Review
Xanadu on Broadway Track Listing
Credits of Xanadu on Broadway
- Douglas Carter Beane
- Liner Notes, Book, Synopsis
- Todd Whitelock
- Engineer
- André Ward
- Vocals
- Eric Stern
- Arranger, Keyboards, Music Direction
- Bart Migal
- Engineer, Editing
- Karl Mansfield
- Keyboards, Synthesizer Programming
- Mary Testa
- Vocals
- Erik Halvorson
- Drums
- Kerry Butler
- Vocals
- Paul Kolnik
- Photography
- Cheyenne Jackson
- Vocals
- Anika Larsen
- Vocals
- John Farrar
- Lyricist
- Philip Chaffin
- Executive Producer, A&R
- Annie Golden
- Vocals
- Tommy Krasker
- Executive Producer
- Joe Lambert
- Mastering
- Jeffrey Lesser
- Producer
- Jeff Lynne
- Lyricist











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