Menopause The Musical®: Inspired by a hot flash and a bottle of wine, writer/producer Jeanie Linders created the show as a celebration of women who are on the brink of, in the middle of, or have survived The Change. Since its first performance, the show has evolved as a "grassroots" movement of women who deal with life after 40 and all the challenges that result in the mental, physical and spiritual freedom of over 38 million post WW2 baby boomer females.
REVIEWS: The Times“Flash! 'Menopause the Musical' Sizzles”Janis ThortonMay 27, 2005
Having a hot flash? No sweat. It's cool to be among the demographic that probably is. “Menopause the Musical,” the joyous, rollicking celebration of sisterhood -particularly for those sisters of a “certain” age - is making it all OK at Indianapolis' American Cabaret Theatre. “Menopause the Musical” is one of those rare, little gems whose popularity snowballs because it resonates so perfectly precisely with its selected audience. The loose storyline involves four women, strangers to one another, each well past 40, who meet at the lingerie table at Bloomingdale's. Fighting over the same marked-down undergarment, they start to lament about the realities of their stage of life. Then they let loose in song and dance. Parodying 25 hit, Baby Boomer pop songs, the cast-featuring a soap star, a power woman, an earth mother and a sheltered Iowa housewife-leaves no stone unturned in its examination of the female journey. Song such as “Chain of Fools,” “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “Puff the Magic Dragon,” “My Guy” and “Staying Alive” take on new life with new lyrics. These familiar ditties are transformed into “Change, change, change...change of life,” “I heard it through the grapevine; you no longer see 39,” “Puff, my God I'm draggin',” “My thighs” and “Stayin' awake.”
No menopausal milestone is too sensitive for this cheeky quartet. Frugging about the stage, belting out the high notes, they explore flashing, wrinkles, night sweats, insomnia, mood change, weight gain, sex-and lack of it. In the midst of the cast's unbridled sass and attitude, the mainly female audience simply cannot remain seated and spends much of the show on its feet, dancing and cheering. The festive exploration crescendos and ends finally as it should, with the four embracing their glorious femaleness, realizing their strengths, their innate power and “a new attitude.” “Menopuase...,” the 90-minute musical-comedy, opened Off Broadway just a couple of years ago, a sort of revived women's movement. Today it is on the brink of creating its very own movement with productions mounted coast-to-coast.
It was written by Jeanie Linders, who minted the characters as a compilation of all women who are post-World War II babies. The enormously talented Indianapolis cast features Tiffanies Bridges, Holly Stover, Ellen Kingston and Catherine Mobley.
The beautiful American Cabaret Theatre at 401 E. Michigan St., Indianapolis, is the ideal venue, with its stylishly retro, art deco trim and its tiered, night-club style seating. Performances are 8 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 5 and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $37.50. They can be purchased at the box office or online at www.ticketmaster.com. Discounts are available for seniors and groups by calling (317) 632-5182. “Menopause the Musical” delivers entertaining fun for everyone-any age, either gender. It has an unlimited run. But hurry. Go see it now. Don't chance missing it. It's Hot.
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