Off-Broadway hit returns to the 14th Street Playhouse

After 635 performances, from April 2005 to February 2007, made it the longest-running musical in Atlanta history, “Menopause The Musical” is coming back to Atlanta for a limited-time engagement at the 14th Street Playhouse on Feb. 22. This musical rendition of “the change” has been entertaining and educating women from coast-to-coast for more than five years. From the work of writer Jeanie Linders, “Menopause The Musical” is a 90-minute production, which includes re-lyricized tunes from the ’60s and ’70s.

Billed as “The Hilarious Celebration of Women and The Change,” the show begins with four women at a Bloomingdale’s lingerie sale with nothing in common but a black lace bra – so it seems. As it turns out, the “Professional Woman,” the “Soap Star,” the “Iowa Housewife” and the “Earth Mother” also share hot flashes, night sweats, memory loss, chocolate binges and day-to-day challenges with aging parents, aging children and aging partners.

These four women 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,” said producer Kathi Glist. “It resonates with just about any woman over 40, but it is enjoyed by all. And the men laugh just as hard.”

“Menopause The Musical,” which debuted in a 76-seat theatre in Orlando, Fla., has become an international women’s movement, playing in more than 40 U.S. cities and twelve countries. With more than nine million viewers and almost 50,000 audience members each week, women and men of all ages and stages of life find their spirits lifted by the show’s light-hearted look at menopause.

“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,” said writer Jeanie Linders. “Most women know intuitively what every other woman is facing with the onset of 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 sisterhood!”

“Menopause The Musical” features actresses returning from the original Atlanta production with Gainesville’s Ingrid Cole as Earth Mother, Atlanta’s Mary Kathryn Kaye (Suzi Bass Award nominee for Respect) as Iowa Housewife, Scottdale’s Valerie Payton (Suzi Bass Award nominee for Romeo & Juliet) as Professional Woman, and Jonesboro’s Lynna Schmidt as Soap Star. The “Menopause” band will again be conducted by Suzi Bass nominee Dale Grogan, known for over 25 years of experience in the Atlanta musical theater scene.

“Menopause The Musical” in Atlanta is produced by GFour Productions founders Kathi and Alan Glist and Sandra and Kenneth Greenblatt. They began producing in 1981 and have since been nominated for 72 Tony Awards winning 30, 38 Drama Desk Awards winning 22 and 10 Outer Critic Awards winning nine.

Performances are Wednesday through Sunday, with matinees on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. and evening performances on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m. and on Saturdays at 5:30 p.m. An additional, one-time Sunday evening show will be featured at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 24.

Tickets for all performances are $42.50 and can be purchased at the theatre box office, by calling 404-733-4750 or you can visit www.menopausethemusical.com. Discounts for groups of 15 or more are available by calling 404-606-2323.

The 14th Street Playhouse is located at 173 14th Street in Atlanta. For directions, please visit www.14thstplayhouse.org.

For further information about “Menopause The Musical,” please visit www.menopausethemusical.com.

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