Happy Friday, good readers.

Now, there are two things I love when it comes to the theatre: The first is having a rip-roaring time at a show with a friend where you just laugh and clap, clap and laugh. The second is when you hear that there's a fun, smart musical based on a classic film coming down the pike.

And so, let's discuss 'Xanadu' and '9 to 5' (yup, you read right).

Here we go ... after the jump.

Last night I attended a fully-packed preview of 'Xanadu,' the musical based on the 1980 huge flop-of-a-movie about the forbidden love between a goddess and the mortal she inspires that has hoity-toity theatergoers rolling their eyes. But let me give you some quick thoughts.

Even if you haven't seen the movie (if you read this post, you know that I hadn't), the show is a 90-minute joyride to the absurd and the amazing. Nearly every song -- all of which are in the movie, or so I hear -- scores as do most of the wall-to-wall jokes. (The show is one big not-so-subtle wink-wink, nudge-nudge that constantly hits the audience over the head like one of those anvils in those Looney Tunes cartoons.)

The performers are so talented and are such a joy to watch, you can't help but get sucked in with a smile. Kerry Butler (see photo, above), most recently on Broadway in the revival of 'Little Shop of Horrors,' has a face you just want to bite and a voice that's a wonder. (And the woman can roller-skate!) Cheyenne Jackson, the hunk most recently on Broadway in 'All Shook Up' (and a late entry in the show as he took over for the injured original lead, James Carpinello), plays sincere and dim with flair and finesse. (And the man can sing!)

Mary Testa and Jackie Hoffman (center from left to right, see photo, left), two women with serious theatre credits, are a terrifically funny pair whose amazing comedic talent matches their musical talent. And an actor named Curtis Holbrook has one of the best tap routines I've seen on stage in a long time. (Didn't you hear the applause after his solo? No? I'm shocked because people, we were LOUD.)


With the show two weeks away from opening (it officially opens July 10th), I'm sure the 'Xanadu' crew (which includes the out writer, Douglas Carter Beane) will tweak and refine, but I have to tell you, they already have a good thing going at the Helen Hayes Theatre. (It's also a great meet market: I haven't seen so many cute gay guys since last weekend's Pride parade.)

And what made the evening such a delightful one was that I simply wasn't expecting to like the show. But I did. A LOT. And so, I'm here to tell you this: If you live in New York City, or are planning a trip here some time soon, get thee to the box office and snag yourself a ticket. (The show also sells on-stage seats and, while you miss a wee-bit of the action, it actually looked like a lot of fun to be up there. No bathroom breaks if you DO sit up there, though, so you'll have to just grin, bare it and, well, hold it in throughout the show's intermission-less 90 minutes.)

So go, sit back, have fun ... and party like it's disco ballin' 1980.

'Xanadu' is currently in previews on Broadway. For more information and tickets, click here. And if you want to get the movie, click on over to Amazon.com.

From one hopeful Broadway moneymaker to another, I give you another 1980 film (this one was a hit): '9 to 5,' which starred Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton and Jane Fonda as three female employees of a "sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot" and how they turned the tables on him. And folks, a musical version of this movie is (hopefully) heading to Broadway.

Now, the movie-to-musical genre has had very mixed results. There have been a few hits ('Beauty and the Beast,' 'The Lion King') but more than a few misses ('Big,' 'Urban Cowboy,' 'Sweet Smell of Success,' 'Saturday Night Fever,' 'High Fidelity,' 'Carrie,' 'The Goodbye Girl,' 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' ... you get my point), but I hear this one's likely to defy the odds.

Miss Dolly Parton herself has written the music and the lyrics -- and I hear they're as good as you'd expect them to be. And the writer of the movie, Patricia Resnick, has written the book for the stage version that I'm told is smart, stage-friendly and fun-ny.

The cast gathered for two readings of the show yesterday for an invite-only crowd; a reading is for the director (in this case, Joe Mantello, who directed 'Wicked' worldwide) and the producer (that would be Robert Greenblatt, the head of Showtime), as well as Dolly, Patricia and choreographer Andy Blankenbueler, to hear the show performed by a full cast to help them hone it. There was no real staging and no sets or costumes.

The cast across the board is a cornucopia of talent. It includes Allison Janney (from 'The West Wing') in the Lily Tomlin role of Violet, Stephanie J. Block (read my interview with her here) in the Jane Fonda role as Judy, and Broadway actress Megan Hilty ('Wicked') as Doralee, the role Dolly Parton played.

The title song, '9 to 5,' opens the show (yes!) and other songs with titles like 'Around Here' (for Violet), 'Backwoods Barbie' (for Doralee, which is also rumored to be on Dolly's next album) and 'Get Out and Stay Out' (for Judy) pepper the musical. And the movie's fantasy sequences where the ladies take revenge on Mr. Hart (Judy's a bounty-hunter, Doralee's a lasso-loving rodeo star and Violet's a not-so-nice Snow White) also get some innovative song-and-dance treatment.

The goal is to take the show out-of-town early next year and bring it to Broadway a year from now. And this one sounds like a winner. Let's all say a prayer and hope this happens.

And so I ask you, wonderful QueerSighters: What movie do YOU think would make a great musical?