In the Spotlife: Meet Leiney Rigg of ‘Xanadu’

Leiney Rigg is appearing in ‘Songs for a New World’ at the Aurora Fox through October 14. Photo by Christine Fisk.

High rollers! Meet the cast and creative team that will bring Xanadu from Mount Olympus to the Garner Galleria Theatre

Denver Center Cabaret has announced the cast and creative team for the fun roller-skating musical Xanadu, to be presented by a five-actor ensemble in the Garner Galleria Theatre from November 3, 2018, through April 28, 2019. And as has long been a point of pride for many homegrown Galleria productions, Xanadu features an all-Colorado company of actors.

Meet Leiney Rigg

  • Role: Understudy
  • Hometown: Honolulu
  • What’s your handle? @Leineybug on Instagram
  • What’s your website? I don’t have one. (Should I have one?!)
  • What have you done for us lately? I am currently appearing with my Xanadu castmate Sarah Rex in Songs for a New World at the Aurora Fox through October 14. Before that, I played the Lady of the Lake in Spamalot at Breckenridge Backstage Theatre, and I was lucky enough to play Mayzie in the Arvada Center’s children’s production of Seussical.
  • Twitter-sized bio: When not singing and dancing, Leiney can be found walking, petting, and taking too many pictures of her dog, Basil. Dyes her hair a lot and when she drinks whiskey, she can drop split anytime, anywhere. Can also insert a USB drive on the first try.
  • If you were ever to find yourself on Mount Olympus and asked to describe the 1980s Earthling fad known as “roller disco,” how would you explain it? Oh, great Zeus: We have sandals with wheels on them, and we slide around the floor shaking our booties to upbeat music to forget our human troubles.
  • Best 1980s roller-skating song: “You Make My Dreams Come True,” by Hall and Oates
  • Best hand-holding roller-skating song for when they slow it down and turn down the lights with just you and the person you want to be your Saturday Night Skate City sweetie circling the rink: “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life,” by Bill Medley
  • Teenage roller-skating memory: So that Disney Channel original movie “Brink” was huge when I was a kid, and they were bladers for sure, not skaters, but I was very inspired to get out there and blade myself, as if I myself was as good as Andy “Brink” Brinker and his pals (Spoiler alert: I was not as good as them.) I went up this hill, notorious for being the hill to skate in the neighborhood at the time, with the intention of skating back down like the 9-year-old rebel I was. I watched a few of the other kids skate down the hill like pros. When it finally got to be my turn, I approached the starting point, knees shaking. All eyes were on me. I took a deep breath. Looked down. And started crying — because there was no way in hell I was skating down that hill. I took my skates off while everyone watched and walked back down the hill to my house in utter shame. I am proud to proclaim that I eventually skated down that hill. And I still have the scar to prove it. SOUL SKATER FOR LIFE.
  • Your present skill level on skates: Beginner for sure, with the confidence of a much more seasoned skater. I feel like there’s going to be a skating montage, where I start out terrible and no one has any hope for me, and by the end I’m skating circles around people, doing tricks with the song from “Rocky” playing in the background.
  • Fill in the blank with any word other than “mellow”: “Have you never been _____: Loosey-goosey? Have you never tried?”

To read a fun introductory, skating-themed profile of each cast member, click on a name from the list below:

Xanadu: Cast

Xanadu: Creative team

  • Director and Choreographer: Joel Ferrell
  • Musical Director: David Nehls
  • Assistant Director: Piper Lindsay Arpan
  • Scenic Design: Lisa Orzolek
  • Light Design: Charles MacLeod
  • Costume Design: Meghan Anderson Doyle
  • Sound Design: Craig Breitenbach

Xanadu: Ticket information

XanaduXanadu, based on the 1980 cult film starring Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly, is a Tony Award-nominated musical that follows the journey of a magical and beautiful Greek muse named Kira who descends from the heavens of Mount Olympus to Venice Beach, California. She is on a quest to inspire struggling artist Sonny to achieve the greatest artistic creation of all time – the first roller disco. (Hey, it’s 1980.) But when Kira falls into forbidden love with the mortal Sonny, her jealous sisters take advantage of the situation and chaos abounds. This is a musical adventure about following your dreams despite the limitations others set for you, with an original score composed by pop-rock legends Jeff Lynne and John Farrar.

  • Written by: Douglas Carter Beane (book); Jeff Lynne and John Farrar (music and lyrics)
  • When: Performances November 3, 2018, through April 28, 2019
  • Where: Garner Galleria Theatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex
  • Information: Call 303-893-4100 or BUY ONLINE
  • Groups: Call 800-641-1222
  • Age recommendation: 12 and over

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