Theater News

Jane Krakowski Bows Out of Broadway-Bound Xanadu

Jane Krakowski(© Joseph Marzullo/Retna)
Jane Krakowski
(© Joseph Marzullo/Retna)

Jane Krakowski, who played Kira in the recent workshop of the Broadway-bound musical Xanadu, will not appear in the production due to scheduling conflicts with her hit televison series 30 Rock, according to a production spokesperson. Nonetheless, the musical, which is based on the 1980 film of the same title, is still scheduled to open at the Helen Hayes Theater this season. No dates have been set, nor has any casting yet been announced.

The show will be directed by Christopher Ashley, and the script is by Douglas Carter Beane, author of such plays as The Little Dog Laughed and As Bees in Honey Drown. The score will incorporate music from the film, which was written by John Farrar and Jeff Lynne. Two of the movie’s songs, “Magic” and “Suddenly,” were Top 40 hits.

The movie Xanadu was directed by Robert Greenwald and stars Olivia Newton-John, Michael Beck, and Gene Kelly. It focuses on a mysterious woman named Kira who inspires an artist named Sonny and a former bandleader to build a big roller disco.