Sarah Rex is playing Calliope in DCPA Cabaret’s ‘Xanadu.’ Photo by Emily Lozow.

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 Sarah Rex 

• Role: Calliope
• Hometown: North Reading, Mass.
• What’s your handle? @singitmom on Instagram
• What’s your website? sarahrex.com
• What have you done for us lately? I recently appeared in Songs for a New World at the Aurora Fox. Before that, I played the Narrator in the Arvada Center’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and I was in the Denver Center’s cast of Forbidden Broadway  
• Twitter-sized bio: Sarah is one part suburban housewife, one part Mom, one part actress, one part fitness nut and three parts wacko. Stir together and you get Sarah Rex!
• 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? Loud music, flashing lights, unbuttoned shirts and lots of hairy chests with multiple gold chains!
• Best 1980s roller-skating song: “Kiss” by Prince
• 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: “Can’t Fight This Feeling” by REO Speedwagon
• Teenage roller-skating memory: I was known in my neighborhood as the girl on skates (sort of like Tootie from “The Facts of Life”). They were tan sneaker skates! I just remember trying to go up people’s outside stairs in my skates while selling Florida oranges to raise money so I could go on a band trip with the marching band.
• Your present skill level on skates: Really hoping it’s like riding a bicycle!
• Fill in the blank with any word other than “mellow”: “Have you never been _____: Callipygian? Have you never tried?”

Sarah Rex recently performed in ‘Songs for a New World’ at the Aurora Fox. Photo by Christine Fisk.

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

Xanadu: Cast

• Female 1, Kira, Clio: Lauren Shealy
• Female 2, Melpomene: Sheryl McCallum
• Female 3, Calliope and Female 2 understudy: Sarah Rex
• Male 1, Sonny: Marco Robinson
• Male 2, Danny: Aaron Vega
• Male understudy: Seth Dhonau
• Females 1 and 3 understudy: Leiney Rigg

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

Xanadu, 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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