In 1982, following in the footsteps of her smash film debut as Sandy Olsen in Grease, Xanadu was an expensive and highly anticipated musical fantasy, and was to serve as Olivia's first film as the lead actress.
Teamed with the energetic music from pop sensations the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) and musical legend Gene Kelly, Xanadu was expected to be youthful and innovative.
However, the movie was scorned by critics and ignored by many fans. Failing miserably at the box office, Xanadu did have one redeeming factor, a superhot soundtrack.
Xanadu went on to have many hits, including "Suddenly", "All Over The World", "Magic" and it's title song, "Xanadu".
Since then, Xanadu has found new life as a cult classic and was even brought to the stage by "Xanadu Live", and then by the smash, Tony nominated Broadway hit "Xanadu"..
Although it will never go down in history as the greatest movie of all time, Xanadu remains an underated favorite for all of those who were lucky enough to grow up watching it and listening to it's soundtrack.
And though rollerskates have been replaced by rollerblades, Xanadu was a little ahead of it's time and remains a great guilty pleasure.... |
