The CultureMap Interview

Xanadu star romps on roller skates, plays in "pageant closet" and channels Olivia Newton John

In a decade at Stages Repertory Theatre, Holland Vavra has portrayed a stripper, an agoraphobic housewife, a 1940s pinup girl, a Steel Magnolia and a Wonderette, among other roles. But nothing has compared to the attention she is getting for her current turn as the roller-skating star in Xanadu — a part made famous by Olivia Newton John in the '80s cult film.

"It's just a big party — and it's on roller skates."

The musical has become a big summer hit for Stages, which has extended performances through July 20. The production, a wild romp that improbably combines rollers skaters in legwarmers with muses in Greek togas and some of the decade's most iconic tunes, draws a cadre of excited Houston theatergoers who have already seen the production seven or eight times, mouthing the lyrics to such songs as "Suddenly" and "I'm Alive" along with the cast.

"They're our super fans," says the show's star, who everyone calls Holland (in a one-name tribute kind of like Cher). "It's fabulous."

CultureMap caught up with the 31-year-old actress to find out more.

CultureMap: You've done a lot of different roles at Stages. How does this compare to the ones you've done in the past?

Holland Vavra: Oh gosh, this is the first one I can say I am legitimately starring in. This is my 14th show at Stages and I've been very, very blessed by the people there. But this one is different. It's just a wonderful show to do. There's nothing sad or upsetting about it. It's just a big party — and it's on roller skates.

CM: Did you have to learn to roller skate for this role?

HV: Oh, no. I have been skating as long as I can remember actually. I am very comfortable on roller skates — it just so happens there is an entire musical on roller skates and thankfully I am able to do it.

CM: Has it improved your roller skating skills?

HV: It's made me more comfortable on them. My turning is really good now. I can turn really fast. It's a new element to be on roller skates in a small space.

CM: Why is Xanadu so beloved?

HV: The '80s was such a great time for people. I'm a child of the '80s. I was young (born in 1982), but I do remember this music. People can hear the first notes of a tune and remember where they were the first time they heard it.

"You find your niche, your theater family and you just stay with them."

CM: How hard is it to make a living as an actress in Houston?

HV: I have been really blessed with the people at Stages. I started working there when I was 21. I've gone on to TUTS and done other things here and there, but I always come back to Stages. I am union and it's difficult to work constantly in Houston as union. But I think we have a wonderful theater community in Houston. You find your niche, your theater family and you just stay with them.

CM: On Twitter, you once said, "I want to be Carol Burnett." Does that still stand?

HV: I do love her. And Madeline Kahn. The humor those women could produce was way beyond what was happening at the time. Oddly enough, in the show, towards the end of the second act, there are four of us on stage and we crack each other up so hard that we have to figure something to say on the spot. We jokingly say it's The Carol Burnett Show.

CM: Is Holland a family name?

HV: No, it's not. Both of my parents were in theater and just wanted me to have an interesting name, maybe crossing their fingers that their little girl would be an actress. I guess they got what they wanted.

CM: You were in the Miss Texas pageant. What do you feel about pageants now, looking back?

HV: There is a great deal of humor and satire in pageants, but the best part is the women are real, they are funny and talented and smart. I enjoyed my three years (in competition). It's fun to play dress-up every day. And I won the talent (portion) when I was there so I got a lot of my tuition paid.

I currently have what most of friends, particularly Mitchell Greco, the director, and Mark Ivy, who is also in the show, refer to it as my "pageant closet." It is fun to come play in the pageant closet when you come over.

Xanadu continues Wednesdays through Sundays at Stages, 3201 Allen Parkway, through July 20. Tickets are $19 - $65.

Holland Vavra, far right, starred in several Wonderettes musicals at Stages, including The Winter Wonderettes.

Photo by Bruce Bennett

Holland Vavra, far right, starred in several Wonderettes musicals at Stages, including The Winter Wonderettes.

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Movie Review

Glen Powell stumbles in remake of sci-fi classic The Running Man

Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Glen Powell in The Running Man.

For all its cheesy ‘80s greatness, the original version of The Running Man starring Arnold Schwarzenegger was a very loose adaptation of the novel by Stephen King. For the new remake, writer/director Edgar Wright has tried to hue much closer to the story laid out in the book, a decision that has both its positive and negative aspects.

Glen Powell takes over for Schwarzenegger as Ben Richards, a family man/hothead who can’t seem to hold a job in the dystopian America in which he lives. Desperate to take care of his family, he applies to be on one of the many game shows fed to the masses that promise riches in exchange for humiliation or worse. Thanks to his temper, Ben is chosen for the most popular one of all, The Running Man, in which contestants must survive 30 days while hunters, as well as the general population, track them down.

Given a 12-hour head start, Ben earns money for every day he survives, as well as every hunter he eliminates. Since he only has a relatively small amount of money to use as he pleases, Ben must rely on friendly citizens who are willing to put their own lives on the line to help him. That’s a task made even more difficult as the gamemakers, led by Dan Killian (Josh Brolin), use advanced AI to manipulate footage of Ben to make him seem like a guy for which no one should root.

Co-written by Michael Bacall, the film is shockingly uninteresting, working neither as an exciting action film, a fun quippy comedy, or social commentary. The biggest problem is that Wright seems to have no interest in developing any of his characters, starting with Ben. Our introduction to the protagonist is him trying to get his job back, a situation for which there is little context even after we’re beaten over the head with exposition.

The situation in which Ben finds himself should be easy to make sympathetic, but Wright and Bacall speed through scenes that might have emphasized that aspect in favor of ones that make the story less personal. The filmmakers really want to showcase the supposed antagonistic relationship between Ben and Dan (and the system which Dan represents), but all that effort results in little drama.

Ben has a number of close calls, and while those scenes are full of action and violence, almost every one of them feels emotionally inert, as if there was nothing at stake. It doesn’t help that Wright doesn’t set the scene well, making it unclear how far Ben has traveled or who/what he’s up against. There are times when Ben feels surrounded and others when he can walk freely, weird for a society that’s supposed to be under almost complete surveillance.

Powell has been touted as a movie star in the making for several years following his turn in Top Gun: Maverick, but he does little here to make that label stick. With no consistent co-star thanks to the structure of the story, he’s required to carry the film, and he just doesn’t have the juice that a true movie star is supposed to have. Nobody else is served well by the scattershot film, including normally reliable people like Brolin, Colman Domingo, Michael Cera, and Lee Pace.

The Running Man is a big misfire by Wright and a blow to Powell’s star power. On the surface, it has all the hallmarks of an action thriller with a side of social commentary, but nothing it does or says lands in any meaningful way. Schwarzenegger’s one-liners in the original film may have been goofy and over-the-top, but at least they made the movie memorable, which is way more than can be said of the remake.

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The Running Man opens in theaters on November 14.

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