Monday, March 10, 2008

Dallas Summer Musicals presents Menopause the Musical this week

By Pegasus News wire

Inspired by a hot flash and a bottle of wine, Menopause The Musical will be presented by Dallas Summer Musicals at The Majestic Theatre in Dallas March 11-16, 2008. Single tickets, priced available for purchase online or by calling 214-631-ARTS.

The show, which has become an international phenomenon, was written by Jeanie Linders and is produced by South Florida-based GFour Productions. Menopause The Musical has been seen by more than 8 million people in 9 countries since it debuted in a 76-seat perfume-shop-turned-theatre in Orlando, Florida in 2001.

Billed as “The Hilarious Celebration of Women and The Change,” the original, off-Broadway musical begins with four women, “Professional Woman,” “Soap Star,” “Iowa Housewife” and “Earth Mother,” at a Bloomingdale’s lingerie sale with nothing in common but a black lace bra—and hot flashes, night sweats, memory loss, chocolate binges, not enough sex, too much sex and day-to-day challenges with aging parents, aging children and aging partners.

They share their ups and downs through a collection of 26 re-lyricized baby boomer songs from the 60s, 70s and 80s. Disco hit “Stayin’ Alive” becomes “Stayin’ Awake,” Motown favorite “My Girl” is transformed into “My Thighs,” "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" switches to "In the Guest Room or on the Sofa, My Husband Sleeps at Night,” and “Puff The Magic Dragon” becomes the anthem to exercise, “Puff, My God I’m Draggin’”.

“It may not be Shakespeare, but our focus is different. We want to bring women together and empower them. This is an event – a happening,” says Kathi Glist, one of the show’s producers. “It resonates with just about any woman over 40, but it is enjoyed by all. And the men laugh just as hard,” she adds.

“The show has become a point of relating, a celebration of a life passage that launches women into a new exciting phase of their lives,” says Linders. “Most women know intuitively what every other woman is facing with the onset of the menopause. They talk about it with their friends and, on occasion, with their spouses. But, when they are in a theatre with hundreds of women, and they’re all shouting ‘That’s Me!’ then they know what they are experiencing is normal. They call it a sisterhood!”

Source: DSM

See more stories in:

• Arts > Fine Arts > Theater > Musicals
• Women's Issues