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XANADU'S unofficial 25th ANNIVERSARY SCREENING September 30, 2005

Even though Xanadu’s silver anniversary came and went without a mention (outside of some fandom circles), one fan, Heather Hoban, refused to let this milestone pass without a some form of recognition, or in this case, a party. And what a party it was!

 

This special screening/party was held at the beautiful Alex Theater in Glendale for September 30, 2005 with a special Xanadu memorabilia case (with animated cells), a costume contest and live dancers. The evening was also a chance for Xanadu fans to personally congregate and to show off their own collection (one lady was passing around a Xanadu press kit and one guy was showing a Xanadu 8-track ‘as performed by The Music Machine’). There was a small parade of hand-made Xanadu t-shirts, too!

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The evening was hosted by Marc Edward Heuck, who was the ‘movie geek’ in Comedy Central’s 2000/01 series, ‘Beat The Geeks’. He made a short and poignant speech about the movie’s ‘sincere innocents’ in the face of its flaws, the critics and cat callers.

 

Then came the costume contest were 11 contenders were competing for DVD’s of ‘Can’t Stop The Music’, ‘Fame’ and, pretty much the grand daddy of 70’s bad musicals, ‘The Apple’. Two ladies dressed up as muses won first prize and picked ‘The Apple’. The runner-up was a 10-year old girl, but when she pointed at the R-rated Fame, the whole audience began to chant ‘Can’t Stop The Music’, so the decision was made for her.

Next on stage, Heuck brought up a member of the original Xanadu dancers, Tony Selznick. Tony mentioned that he enjoyed the experience very much but complained that if it weren’t for the fact he was spending too much time ‘getting high with The Tubes’, HE would of ended up marring Olivia, not his good friend, Matt.

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After Heather pointed out a few more Xanadu crew members in the audience, the rare opportunity to watch Xanadu on the big screen had arrived! As Hueck predicted, there were numerous catcalls (though these were good natured) that sounded like a MST3K audition and some did complain. However, there were some moments that deserved universal reaction like the vaudeville-styled hissing whenever Simpson showed up and when Kira pleaded, ‘Is anybody interested in MY feelings?!’ everybody yelled, ‘NOOOOOOO!!

 

There were moments of karaoke, too. Large chunks of the audience members belted along with ‘Suddenly’, ‘The Fall’, and ‘Suspended In Time’ and, of course, the various incarnations of Xanadu. They even clapped and stomped along with the ‘All Over The World’ instrumental section, the singing vocoder included.

 

However, the big cherry on top of this desert happened during the Dancin’ number. Just was the number started on the screen, real live dancers popped up beneath the screen and began to dance along with the movie. The audience reaction was tremendous to say the least!

 

Not only were the steps similar, if not exact, to the ones on the screen, the outfits were spot on, as well. Even down to the gangster’s girlfriend, whom happens to be next to Kira/Olivia, my biggest crush in the movie.

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Everything went into overdrive when the final number kicked in. Then the credits rolled, the curtain was closed and the lights turned on. The screening was over. But for many, it will never end.

 

Until Universal and MCA Records get serious about special editions for each of the DVD and soundtrack, that is.

 

Until then,

Don-O

Xanadu Preservation Society

 

A note of thanks to Heather for the event, Heuck for doing a grand job of hosting, 8 Track Dave for the 8-Track and Poor Ted for the lift.

 

2010 UPDATE: Universal did do a special edition DVD, but read elsewhere in this site for that matter. Still no SE soundtrack issued…..well, officially yet

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ABOVE RIGHT: Marc and Heather. ABOVE RIGHT: two more handmade Xanadu displayed ABOVE: the dancers hang out afterwards. BELOW: Dave (the 8-track owner) and some of the dancers. Oh, Dave, we're still waiting for the digital copy of that thing!!!

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