Is Xanadu a real place?
What is the Place Where Nobody Dared to Go? That takes your breath and will leave you blind? This website has often spotlighted fictional places from film and TV, but it has rarely ventured into those from song. That changes today as we dive into the world of "Xanadu." "Xanadu" is also the name of the movie from which this Olivia Newton-John song came, but the soundtrack ended up outshining its source. While "Xanadu" bombed at the box office, the titular song smashed charts around the world. "Xanadu" is about a roller-disco nightclub inspired by a literal Muse from Greek Mythology, played by Olivia. The movie was filmed in LA, with the old Pan-Pacific Auditorium playing the part of the nightclub, at least on the outside. The release of the movie momentarily stoked interest in saving the then-crumbling building, but it ultimately burned down in 1989. There is, however, a Xanadu in the real world. Or was—Xanadu, also known as Shangdu, was the cap...