Menopause is inevitable. Yet, for many women it remains a mystery until one day it makes a disruptive entrance and proceeds to wreak havoc. Thankfully, one theatre production seeks to unabashedly confront it in all its uncomfortable glory.
The original Menopause The Musical opened in 2006 in Florida. In the 17 years since, it has played all over the world, to 17 million people in total.
“People leave with a huge smile on their face…it’s a whole bonding experience,” said Mark Zimmerman, producer at Shaggypup productions, who introduced the original version of the show to Toronto the same year it premiered in Florida. “We had 513 consecutive performances,” he continued, and the run lasted for two years.
Now, its sequel, Menopause the Musical 2: Cruising Through ‘The Change’ is playing in Toronto for a limited three-week run.
Sarah Stahmer- Earth Mother, Denise Oucharek – Moose Jaw Housewife Courtesy: Shaggypup Productions)
Zimmerman also brings the musical’s second iteration to Canada, and it had already notched a number of sold-out shows in Vancouver, Niagara Falls and Ottawa before it opened at the Jane Mallett Theatre at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts in Toronto on Nov. 9.
As one might expect, its opening night audience was predominantly women, all of whom were eager to witness their own lives play out hilariously on stage.
Menopause the Musical 2 picks up five years on from where its wildly popular predecessor left off, aboard a cruise ship with four menopausal friends at the beginning of a much needed girls holiday.
In keeping with the original version, whose story is told through parodied renditions of famous songs from the 1950s, 60’s and 70s, Menopause The Musical 2 harnesses well known music from the 70s 80s and 90s, substituting Bonnie Tyler lyrics like, “I need a hero” for “I need a vino,” and Chicago’s infamously murderous, “He Had It Coming,” for stories of the four protagonists losing their cool thanks to the “the change.”
But there is depth to its delightfully lighthearted temperament. A commentary on the disproportionate value society places on appearing youthful underpins the plot, as do tuneful ruminations over the impossibly high standards of beauty imposed on women. The show also speaks to the vitality and necessity of female friendship and the inimitable relief of living a shared experience.
Lorena Mackenzie, Denise Oucharek, Sara Stahmer and Michelle E. White, complete the four- women cast. Each holds space for the other as they navigate the treachery of hot flashes and depleted or sometimes overactive sex drives, help to reconcile the deaths of husbands, and appease overly dependent domestic life partners.
Oucharek’s arc is central to the show; her character, Moose Jaw Housewife, is timid and so reluctant to move on from her late husband that she brings his ashes with her on the ship.
But, by its close she is liberated and exudes confidence thanks to the unrelenting support of her friends.
“There is no replacement for lifelong friends who always have your back…and I think that’s really what resonates in this particular version [of the show,] ” Zimmerman told Now Toronto.
Moreover, there will always be lasting merit to a show that tackles a universal experience with such joviality and openness. Like many issues affecting women, menopause isn’t always spoken about, but this musical carves a route to meaningful conversations in the real world, between female friends but also among men, who will certainly walk away with a grin, and hopefully a new found compassion for the opposite sex.
Zimmerman recalls past audience members approaching him after shows, “I’ve had people come up to me and say you’ve saved my marriage, because for the first time I understand what my partner is going through…they walk away with better empathy, more understanding, that’s been a strong takeaway for a lot of men who have seen the show,” he said.
Menopause the Musical 2 is uplifting, heartfelt and as deeply funny as it is necessary.
Made for girls’ night, date night, or as an opportunity to teach your male partner a lesson about womanhood, it provides much-needed comic relief from the trials and tribulations of everyday life.
Menopause the Musical 2: Cruising Through ‘The Change’ runs from Nov. 9-26 at St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, buy tickets here.
