Final Xanadu Book Exclusive Sneak Peek Contest And Special Message From Producer Brian Swibel

On the final day of the exclusive sneak peeks at Xanadu The Book! Seriously! Producer Brian Swibel wanted to share his thoughts about the book.  Read about the creative process in putting this special "opus" together and then enter below to win your own copy along with two (2) tickets to the Broadway show itself!

 
click image above to see full-sized!  

 

  Xanadu. That gift so grand none of us truly knows what it is.

I've always taken that line from Douglas Carter Beane's book as a double entendre. One meaning referring to the notoriously confusing film, the other to the mythic search for meaning in our all of our lives. Whichever way we are bent, whether it is spiritually, existentially, nihilistically, or even if  we are not bent at all, we seem to all be searching to figure out what inspires meaning during the short time we are granted the gift of life. (Or the curse, if you happen to be an Evil sister type, either way.)

With this book, we wanted to talk more about that very universal truth.  A show book, I have learned, is a seriously adventurous project to embark upon and since Xanadu is a musical about artistic process, it constantly invites the pondering of the process itself, which makes it more adventurous. It sounds heady, but in actuality, it is that headiness that creates the dizzying fun the audience experiences at Xanadu. Because it is the spirituous will of artists that inspire us and spur our desire to come back to the theater again and again.  It is their vinous commitment to life which makes this whole thing worthwhile, in my opinion and most surely, Xanadu's.

We delved in to that process for this book. The focus sharpened on the creative team. Since Xanadu tracks the adventures and misadventures of a young muse's journey to earth, as well as that of the object she inspires, we thought it might be interesting to touch on where and from what our own earthly creators derive their inspiration. We spoke with them and probed, discovering deep influences and relationships that colored not only their work on Xanadu, but their work as theater artists. That seemed interesting.  There is some really cool stuff in this book, some great production shots, facts and images.

But most of all, if you read it, you will learn something new in the stories of the artists involved. They are not stories of self congratulations or anything like that. They are mostly just stories about people who came together at one inspirational period, "when all the arts converged in one place,"  as Sonny Malone (a character from Xanadu) would say.

For me, Xanadu encourages the creation of art. It pretty much openly supports that. And loving one another. So I think the book is a worthwhile read because it tells the story of an unlikely musical and the artists who brought it to life.
 
You, the reader, probably create things all the time, beautiful things, whether it be "art" or "theater", or of another nature altogether. Or maybe you want to start creating something and you'd like to learn more about how people who have come before you gain the strength to persevere through the challenges of that kind of process. That's what we were thinking about, and since we truly appreciate you, dare I say, love you, we ended up focusing on the that idea: inspiration, which is something we could all use a bit of from time to time. Our hope is you might find some in Xanadu the Book! Seriously!

Oh yeah. And it is quite a bit of fun too. If you're into that.

- B. Swibel

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XANADU THE BOOK! SERIOUSLY! is 84 full color pages and will cost $25. You can pick up your copy online at http://www.XanaduOnBroadway.com and at the Helen Hayes Theatre 240 West 44th Street starting Friday, April 4 at 6pm.