''Menopause The Musical'' is a 2001

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

with book and lyrics by Jeanie Linders which premiered on March 28, 2001 in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

. The musical follows four mature women shopping for lingerie at a

Bloomingdale's Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain; it was founded in New York City by Joseph B. Bloomingdale, Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. A third brother, Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, was also involved in the bus ...

sale, with lyrics parodying popular music from the baby boomer era to reflect symptoms of the

menopause Menopause, also known as the climacteric, is the time in women's lives when menstrual periods stop permanently, and they are no longer able to bear children. Menopause usually occurs between the age of 47 and 54. Medical professionals often d ...

. Following the success of an

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

production, running for over 1,500 performances until 2006, the show was produced across the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

touring to the present day including in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, where it has been running since 2006 as the longest running scripted musical in Las Vegas history. The show has spawned productions worldwide.

Productions

Original Orlando production

The original Orlando production opened on March 28, 2001 at the Church Street Theatre building, that was specifically converted from a perfume shop into a 76-seat theatre for the show. Its original cast members were Shelly Browne as the Power Woman (later renamed the Professional Woman), Patti McGuire as the Iowa Housewife, Pammie O'Bannon as the Earth Mother, and Wesley Williams as the Soap Star. The show then transferred to West Palm Beach's Cuillo Center on June 22, 2001.

Original off-Broadway productions

The

production officially opened at Theatre Four on April 4, 2002, after a month of previews. It then transferred to Playhouse 91 in September of that year. After running for four years, the Off-Broadway production closed in May 2006.

North American productions

Street View Eldorado Hotel Reno NV - panoramio

Alongside the New York and Florida runs, GFour Productions mounted further sit-down productions throughout the United States. These opened at the Apollo Theatre in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

on July 25, 2003, becoming the highest grossing musical in the theatre's history after 1,281 performances, the Coronet Theatre in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

on October 30, 2003, the

Gem Theatre The Gem Theatre is a performing arts theater located in Detroit, Michigan. Built in 1927 in the Spanish Revival style, it houses a two level theater with traditional row and aisle seating along with stage-level seating at cabaret tables. The Gem ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

on March 17, 2004 becoming the longest running show in Michigan's history and the Stuart Street Playhouse in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

on March 31, 2004 running for 1,092 performances. The Las Vegas production has been running continuously since 2006, currently at Harrah's Las Vegas. This was followed by a national tour that continues to run to this day, reaching over 500 cities worldwide. A further American tour specifically to raise funds and awareness for the fight against

ovarian cancer Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different c ...

was later launched in 2015.

International productions

International productions have been staged all over the world. Local references in the show are customized to the location of the performance. For example, the '

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

Housewife' became '

Dubbo Dubbo () is a city in the Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the Newell, Mitchell, and Gol ...

Housewife' in Australia; America's Bloomingdale's became

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...

in London.

Original US production musical numbers

*" Change, Change, Change" (

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

)- Professional Woman, Earth Mother & Girls *" I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

) - Professional Woman & Soap Star *" Sign of the Times" ( Petula Clark) - Earth Mother & Iowa Housewife *" Stayin' Awake/Night Sweatin'" ( The Bee Gees) - Ensemble *" My Husband Sleeps Tonight" ( The Tokens) - Earth Mother & Girls *"

Hot Flash Hot flashes (also known as hot flushes) are a form of flushing, often caused by the changing hormone levels that are characteristic of menopause. They are typically experienced as a feeling of intense heat with sweating and rapid heartbeat, and ...

" (

Martha and the Vandellas Martha and the Vandellas (known from 1967 to 1972 as Martha Reeves & The Vandellas) were an American vocal girl group formed in Detroit in 1957. The group achieved fame in the 1960s with Motown. An act founded by friends Annette Beard, Rosalind ...

) - Soap Star *" Drippin' and Droppin'" ( Dusty Springfield) - Earth Mother *" I'm Flashing" ( Brenda Lee) - Professional Woman *" The Great Pretender" ( The Platters) - Professional Woman, Iowa Housewife & Girls *" Sane and Normal Girls/ Thank You Doctor" (

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

) - Ensemble *" Lookin' for Food" ( Johnny Lee) - Soap Star, Iowa Housewife & Girls *" Please Make Me Over" (

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick (; born December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest U.S. hit makers between 1955 and 1999, based on her chart history on ''Billboards Hot 100 pop singles cha ...

) - Soap Star *"

Beauty's Only Skin Deep ''Beauty's Only Skin Deep'' is the debut solo album by Cherie Currie, recorded during September–October 1977, and released in 1978 in music, 1978. Kim Fowley and David Carr co-produced the effort. Mercury Records opted not to release the album ...

" (

The Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...

) - Ensemble *" I'm Flashing (reprise)" (Brenda Lee) - Professional Woman *" Puff, My God, I'm Draggin'" ( Peter, Paul and Mary) - Earth Mother *" The Fat Gram Song" (

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...

) - Professional Woman & Girls *" My Thighs" ( Mary Wells) - Iowa Housewife & Girls *" Don't Say Nothing Bad About My Body" ( The Cookies) - Soap Star & Girls *" I'm No Babe, Ma" ( Sonny & Cher) - Ensemble *"

Good Vibrations "Good Vibrations" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys that was composed by Brian Wilson with lyrics by Mike Love. It was released as a single on October 10, 1966 and was an immediate critical and commercial hit, topping record c ...

" (The Beach Boys) - Earth Mother & Soap Star *" What's Love Got To Do With It?" (

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer o ...

) - Professional Woman & Girls *" Only You" (The Platters) - Iowa Housewife & Girls *" New Attitude" (

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman. LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul". She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singe ...

) - Ensemble *"

This is Your Day ''This is Your Day'' is a Christian television show hosted by Pastor Benny HinnBaptist Press, ...

" ( Village People) - Ensemble

Reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

cited the lyrics as "awkward" but "inspired" and that it was "impossible not to laugh". The

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

said the "supreme silliness" was "fresh, funny and simply terrific". The Daily Californian summarised that "Menopause's collection of great oldies, clever tongue-in-cheek lyrics and entertaining dance routines prevented me from making any I-Need-Air trips to the restroom."

References

External links

*
GFour Productions
* {{iobdb show 2001 musicals American musicals