If you turned on a radio in the 1980s -- or an oldies station since then -- you know the Olivia Newton-John/Electric Light Orchestra collaboration that sent songs like "Magic" and "Xanadu" soaring up the charts.

The movie that launched those songs? It received mostly critical groans, including this assessment from then Post-Gazette movie critic George Anderson:

" 'Xanadu' is not without small musical pleasures. But it is, alas, without a brain in its head."

Rob Ahrens saw the potential but was likewise disappointed when he used his family's new VCR to pop in a tape of the movie. He was 14 at the time.

He rediscovered the movie and its potential -- this time as a Broadway musical -- when he saw an "illegal" production. "They did a stage version of the movie, using the screenplay and lip-syncing to the movie soundtrack. That was 2001, and it reignited something I had thought when I saw the film in the 1980s," Mr. Ahrens explained.

That production sent him on a quest that resulted in "Xanadu," the stage musical. It arrives at the Benedum Center Tuesday with a wink and a nudge to the movie that inspired it.

The original had the music and a thin plot about a Greek muse (Ms. Newton-John) who inspires an artist. And, oh yeah, it had Gene Kelly in his last movie, as a 1940s-era musician who has become a construction mogul. He teams with the artist to open -- what else? -- a roller-disco.

All these years later, Mr. Ahrens could see it as a stage-bound joyride -- "heaven on wheels," as The New York Times called the show -- if only he could find the right person to take the roller skates, leg warmers, hot pants, that whole '80s vibe, and re-imagine the whole as a campy funfest for the 2000s.

Mr. Ahrens set his sights on Douglas Carter Beane, whose satire "As Bees in Honey Drown" had been an off-Broadway hit in 1997. In it, "Doug both pokes fun and celebrates a segment of New York society. And that's what I wanted, someone who could both celebrate what was best about the movie and poke fun at it, too."

It took cajoling and persistence to enlist Mr. Beane. Although his agent and manager supported the project, the writer's partner had called "Xanadu" "a career stopper," and that made him pause.

But Mr. Ahrens obtained Mr. Beane's private telephone numbers from a mutual colleague and didn't stop calling until he got a meeting -- in an office conference room. He also got a "yes" that same day.

Mr. Beane went on to a Tony nomination and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical.

"What Doug Beane did, inferring a plot, adding antagonists like the evil Muse sisters, fleshing out characters .... The themes that were suggested by the film, he clarified and elaborated on."

Using much of the original music was a no-brainer, although with the changes in plot came additions, including the John Farrar-penned "Have You Never Been Mellow?" and ELO's "Strange Magic" and "Evil Woman" (those sisters again).

The Broadway musical attracted four Tony nominations, including best actress nominee Kerry Butler in the Olivia Newton-John role as Kira, the Muse who inspires Sonny, played by "30 Rock" hunk Cheyenne Jackson. Elizabeth Stanley and Max von Essen (Tony in Pittsburgh CLO's "West Side Story") have the roles in the touring company.

One of Mr. Ahrens' favorite moments in the show comes when Sonny teaches Kira to paint -- the first time the Muse is able to create rather than serve. That's one of many moments not in the film, and the producer points out that knowledge of the original isn't necessary -- although some background about Ms. Newton-John might be helpful.

The show's success depends on audiences' and critics' willingness to go along with the jokes. Some get it and some don't, Mr. Ahrens admitted, but it's a lopsided victory for the "get it" crowd.

Ms. Newton-John, who attended on opening night, definitely gets it.

"It was great that she enjoyed it," Mr. Ahrens said. "She actually had [her musical collaborator] John Farrar come to early previews, and I think he was scoping it out for her. But because it was our first and second preview, it was pretty rough. I was surprised that John could see that there was something to the show. It does poke some fun at her, so it said a lot about Olivia that she could come and could laugh at it."

He added that Gene Kelly's widow, Patricia Ward Kelly, sent a telegram of good luck for the opening.

Mr. Ahrens plans to attend the Saturday matinee here, and said bringing the company to Pittsburgh is "coming full circle." Very early on, he came here with fellow producer Dan Vickery, and Mr. Vickery's wife, Carolyn Myers, to raise funds to get "Xanadu" off the ground.

Now it's skating from city to city, with a yearlong run on Broadway to propel it along.

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