Now it's ready for framing! · 𝙂𝙊𝙊𝙎𝙄𝙁𝙔 🍓🐛🦋🌈⭐️🩷

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Now it's ready for framing!

In addition to being a big fan of the Muppets I'm also a fan of a movie that most people consider to be cheesy. If it wasn't for its incredible soundtrack it might have faded away into obscurity. It didn't and is thought of as a cult classic these days with a pretty dedicated fan base.

That movie is Xanadu.

I don't remember when I first saw the movie and no doubt it was around when it appeared on television as I was a little too young for it during it's theatrical run. But I adored Olivia Newton-John since her release of the album titled, "Physical" and she was my gateway into this movie.

The big thing about the movie is that it also stars Gene Kelly, an absolute screen legend. At such a young age I didn't know who he was or why his presence was so significant. To me he was just the older guy in the film.

In any case Olivia was playing a Greek muse who had come to earth to help inspire a young Sonny Malone (played by Michael Beck) who starts the film as a painter who has to retreat from staking out on his own as an artist and go back to a job he hates to pay the bills.

Through some mishaps Sonny meets Danny Maguire (played by Gene Kelly) who turns out to be someone Olivia's character helped inspire about 40 years earlier, she brings them together and inspires them both to join forces and open a club/roller disco called Xanadu.

Yeah the plot is cheesy but it's a wonderful musical journey and the finale of the film is a wonderful spectacle. I've owned copies of the film on VHS tape, Laserdisc, DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K. I'm a big fan. The movie has even been adapted into a Broadway musical.

I had the chance to meet Olivia Newton-John in 2000. I won a meet & greet opportunity at one of her concerts. I debated on what to take to have her sign at this meet & greet and ultimately decided it should be the Physical album since that is what was made me a fan. Only problem, I didn't have my original LP from my childhood and a cassette version I still had wasn't going to cut it. I found a used LP in a shop and bought it. I took it, met her, got a photo with her and she signed my album.

While I loved having met her and getting that album signed it's a dark album cover and she signed it with a black Sharpie and I found myself wishing I had taken the Xanadu laserdisc instead. So if I ever got the chance to meet her again, I'd take that and get it signed.

I saw her a few more times in concert but didn't get another meet & greet opportunity. But I have a friend who is a concert promoter and had booked Olivia a few times for shows in the San Francisco Bay area and he reached out to me saying he was sending a bunch of things to Olivia to be signed and asked if there was anything I'd like to get signed. This was during the pandemic.

Well I couldn't get to the box where my laserdiscs are in storage, so I found one just like it on eBay and had it sent directly to my friend so it could get shipped with the stuff he was having signed. A short while later the laserdisc was back with my friend all signed and personalized for me. And a short while after that the laserdisc was in my hands.

I absolutely adored it when it arrived and had every intention of getting it framed so I could hang it on my wall, but it didn't happen then. Fast forward a couple years and sadly Olivia had passed away. That probably should have been even more reason to get it framed and on the wall but I didn't.

Yesterday I happened across a post on Facebook that Michael Beck was going to be doing a talk at the library in Ramona, a little town in the hills just Northeast of San Diego. I checked the date, the event was that day. Of all times for my car to be in the shop, so I scrambled to figure out transportation to get to this talk, because I wanted to meet him and if he was willing, have him sign the laserdisc as well.

I reached out to another local friend that I know also loves and appreciates Xanadu. I said, "I know this is last minute, and you may already have plans, but would you be interested in going to Ramona for a little talk by Micheal Beck." He did have plans but it was just going to the movies so he rescheduled that and we went together.

The library was really strict about no photos or recordings and the talk started about becoming an actor, how the first film he was in got him noticed to be offered the role in The Warriors, which he is best known for. Then he skipped right into how got his start in doing audiobook narrations. No mention of Xanadu. Then came the Q&A where he fielded questions when someone finally asked about working with Gene Kelly. He had a couple stories to share and also spoke about how wonderful Olivia had been.

When the talk concluded I took my laserdisc up to the group of people around him and patiently waited. My laserdisc was still in the packing box my friend who had helped me get it signed by Olivia had shipped it in. Michael noticed me and invited me closer, said he noticed I had looked like I had really enjoyed this talk (which I did) and I asked if he would mind signing my laserdisc of Xanadu.

At this point I had started taking it out of the box and he noticed Olivia's signature already there. He seemed to have gotten lost in a memory for a moment there seeing her signature. He said sure, I handed him a sharpie and said it wouldn't be complete without his signature. He wanted to confirm the spelling of my name because he said Olivia's inscription was looping and he didn't want to get it wrong.

Others around picked up him saying that and got excited, "What!? Olivia had signed that." As he finished signing it he smiled, handed me back the laserdisc and the sharpie, looked me in the eye and gave me a big handshake. I thanked him and said it had been an honor to meet him.

As I turned around step out, I showed it to the folks that had the curiosity about Olivia having signed it too. In a way I think her presence was felt in that room.

Now might be a good time to get this framed finally. I'm curious if I should get a frame just for the laserdisc jacket or get one of the ones where the disc can be mounted coming out of the jacket to expose the center label of the disc like one of those fancy vinyl record frames.

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