It wasn't until recently that I found out enough about Xanadu to rent it. A musical! In Los Angeles! With Gene Kelly! From 1980! Really, no matter how bad it was going to be, it would at least rate on the fun-cheese meter. And I wasn't far off. Pretty cheesy, definitely, but taken with the right attitude, I've gotta say it was pretty fun, too.

Vintage Los Angeles architecture, a big band, wild disco dancing, choreographed roller skating, and a healthy dose of Greek mythology, it was a melange of genres, smashed together until it became its own funky thing that could only have taken place here in L.A.

Maybe this wasn't Olivia's best choice as a follow up to her American debut in Grease, but then again... this really is exactly what she seems to be all about - wholesome, happy, and enthusiastic. As Terpsichore/Kira, she is the Muse of music, who makes a brief foray to earth with her sisters to inspire humans in their creative drives. (And check out Sandahl Bergman as one of the Muses! Bet she didn't expect to go from dancing in All That Jazz and Xanadu to coming on to Rowdy Roddy Piper in Hell Comes to Frogtown. But I digress.)

Xanadu is a loose remake of Down To Earth (1947), starring Rita Hayworth, and Austin Powers in Goldmember's spoof was almost dead on.

The plot is thin but functional - mostly serving as a way to get to the outrageous dance sequences that take place throughout the movie. Kira inspires a local painter to go for his dream, along with another dreamer (Gene Kelly) who wants to open a nightclub. That's pretty much it - a brief visit to Olympus to face Zeus and Hera and then everyone's dancing.

So give it a shot - it's fun, at least once.

"Have you ever heard the expression, "kissed by a muse?" Well, that's what I am. I'm a muse."

"Well, I'm glad someone's having a good time."

reviewed by Karen