If you go to Broadway Sacramento's presentation of Xanadu expecting to see the 1980s movie on stage, you may be disappointed.
    If you go to Xanadu for a fast-paced comedy that follows the same general plot as the movie, then you will be delighted, as this Xanadu plays everything for laughs rather than the whimsical fantasy romance that the movie was.

    As fans of the original Xanadu film know, the story is about a struggling young artist named Sonny Malone (Max von Essen), who draws the attention of the Greek muse Clio (Elizabeth Stanley). She makes it her mission to help him and assumes the identity of Kira, a beautiful young woman who roller skates into his life.

    Part of Kira's Earth-bound disguise is to adopt an Australian accent - a fun-filled poke at Olivia Newton-John, the Australian singer/actress who portrayed Kira in the movie.

    While most of the story is faithful to the film, there are a few departures.

    Kira's older sister Melpomene (Amy Goldberger) is determined to undermine her efforts to help Sonny. She decides to cast a spell on her to make her fall in love -- something that is forbidden by her father, Zeus. Zeus has promised Kira "Xanadu," something so wonderful that no one really knows what it is. But Melpomene has decided she is much more deserving that Kira.

    In the film version of Xanadu, Sonny is also an artist, but works for a company that designs posters and record album covers. The stage version of Sonny is something of a "Valley boy," a street artist whose greatest accomplishment to date is a chalk mural on a brick wall of seven sisters -- the middle one, he eventually discovers, bears a striking resemblance to Kira.

    It's a great effect, by the way, in the opening moments of the production when the sisters come alive and leave the wall, suddenly appearing on stage in front of it.

     Kira guides Sonny towards his greatest dream - opening a roller disco - a magical place that would combine all the art forms into one. He partners with Danny Maguire (Larry Marshall), the owner of an old rundown theater called, of course, "Xanadu." At the same time he must convince Zeus (also played by Marshall), to allow Kira to remain on Earth as they both have fallen deeply in love.

     Xanadu, while not what I originally expected (i.e. - the movie on stage), turned out to be just as satisfying as the cinematic version was. It just went in a slightly different direction. The stage production, in fact, kept poking fun at its movie counterpart. At one point it mentioned the decline of the arts in the 1980s and how they could turn so-so films into musical stage productions. It also noted that the 80s was a time when guys would wear extremely short shorts, as evidenced by Sonny's extremely tight, cutoff shorts.

     One thing that didn't change between the movie and the stage musical, however, were the great songs like the opener, "I'm Alive," "Magic," "Suddenly," Don't Walk Away," and the title song, "Xanadu." The producers even threw in an extra treat with the Olivia Newton-John song "Have You Never Been Mellow, " as the characters pointed out to Zeus that he need to lighten up his attitude a bit.

     One of my favorites from the film, "Dancin,'" where Sonny, Danny and Kira envision what Xanadu will be like merging 40s music with the 80s, didn't work quite as well as the glitzy movie version, but was still one of the best numbers in the show and didn't disappoint. It left me wanting more!

     Despite a few glitches in the opening night production -- microphones briefly cutting out, blinding strobe lights and mirror ball reflections, and seemingly too-loud speakers (admittedly I was sitting right in line with them), Xanadu was worth the wait. I've been wanting to see this since it was first announced early in 2009.

   Xanadu plays through Jan. 10 at the Sacramento Community Center Theater. Performances are Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8 p.m. with matinees Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. There will be an additional performance on Sunday, Jan. 3 at 7:30 p.m.

    Ticket prices range from $18 to $65 and are on sale now at the Wells Fargo Pavilion box office, 1419 H Street, the Community Center Theater box office, 1301 L Street, online at www.tickets.com or by calling (916) 557-1999, (916) 808-5181, or (800) 225-2277. Group orders (minimum 12 or more) may be placed by calling (916) 557-1198.