‘Xanadu’ Comes to Houston’s MATCH This August

If you are Generation X or of a certain age, the theme song to the 1980 film Xanadu likely lives rent-free in your head. At the time of its release, it was supposed to be Olivia Newton-John’s triumphant return to the screen after Grease had broken box office records for a movie musical. But Xanadu turned out to have a mess of a plot, and only the soundtrack with ELO and Olivia Newton-John’s songs did very well. The movie was doomed to become a campy cult classic with a great musical score.

Flash forward to 2007, when Kerry Butler and Cheyenne Jackson led a fully realized Broadway musical with a book by Douglas Carter Beane and music and lyrics by Jeff Lynne and John Farrar, about a magical muse who inspires a man to build a roller disco. And surprise, surprise, the stage version was a bona fide hit. This summer, Logan Vaden of The Garden Theatre heads up a Houston production of Xanadu that will skate into the MATCH on August 14th and roller boogie on until the 30th. The show is self-described as “children’s theater for middle-aged gay folks.”

Logan Vaden has been running The Garden Theatre as producing artistic director for five years, and Xanadu opens its sixth season. Logan also works in fundraising for Theatre Under the Stars, and ironically, that company’s artistic director, Dan Knechtges, choreographed the Broadway show and was nominated for the Tony Award. When asked about the possibility of his boss, Dan, seeing his version, Logan stated. “I’m so nervous about it. And you know what’s funny is that our choreographer is Courtney Chilton, who’s done so many Garden Theatre shows by now. And Courtney has also worked with Theatre Under the Stars a million times and knows Dan very well. It would be fun for him to get to see what Courtney and I have done with it.”

Heading up the musical Xanadu for the Garden Theatre are Kristen Herrink as Kira and Miles Estes as Sonny, playing the Olivia Newton-John and Michael Beck roles from the movie. Kristen observed about Xanadu, “It actually struck me fairly deeply. I found it to be surprisingly relevant as a reminder of where we can find joy in this world. You can be that inspirational force for yourself and for anybody, and it’s about human connection and the thrill of creating that moment.” When asked about the challenge of bringing Xanadu to life, Miles waxed philosophically: “I would say I am less scared, but more just wanting to do it justice, the funness and the stupidity of it, still keep it camp, and not falling on those skates.”

Xanadu is a romantic comedy about a boy and a girl, but something about it feels very gay, very queer. When I asked Logan Vaden about that, he stated, “I don’t really know. I don’t know if it’s the costumes, I don’t know if it’s her riding off on a winged horse at one point, I don’t know if it’s the disco balls. Maybe the fact that there are boys prancing around in short togas. I mean, there are so many things that could attribute to it, but there is not really a single thing that is actually, quote, gay, unquote, about it. There’s no queer love story. I think that the queer community—just to quote Liza Minnelli—has taste.”

Whether it is the instantly recognizable early ’80s music from ELO and Olivia Newton-John, the campy story, the skimpy costumes, the flashback to when we rollerskated everywhere, or the giddiness of being reminded of where joy and inspiration come from, Xanadu should be August’s sure bet of pop musical joy for the queer community.

WHAT: Xanadu
WHEN: August 14th through August 30th
WHERE: Midtown Arts & Theater Center Houston (MATCH), 3400 Main St.
INFO: Matchouston.org/events/2026/xanadu