Community Corner
Theater Review: 'Menopause The Musical'
Running at SOPAC through Sept. 27, 'Menopause' features broad humor and some crowd-pleasing musical numbers.
If audience reaction is any indication, Menopause The Musical, running at the South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) through Sept. 27, is a smash hit. Even before the performance begins, members of a packed house on a Wednesday evening seem giddy with anticipation, buying “flash fans” from vendors in the aisles and comparing notes on where and how many times they’ve seen the show before.
Nearly 11 million people in 250 cities around the world have attended performances of Menopause since it opened in a 76-seat former perfume shop in Orlando in 2001, though some of these are clearly double or even triple dippers. For SOPAC, the production's two-month run will be the longest in the venue’s three-year history.
Harold Pinter it ain’t. The humor here is broad (no pun intended, really) and the framework slight. Four women from completely different walks of life meet over a table of reduced lingerie at Bloomingdales and tussle over a lacy black bra. They are not actual characters (the script doesn’t even give them names), but “representative types,” all of whom are in some stage of The Change: Professional Woman, Iowa Housewife, Soap Star and Earth Mother. The four spend what seems like a week in various departments of the store, exchanging stories and lending sisterly support for the tribulations that await us all at roughly the half century mark—hot flashes, insomnia, forgetfulness, chocolate binges, wrinkles, sex deprivation, etc.—while periodically running to the bathroom and stopping to sop up sweat between their breasts. Having fun yet?
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And yet a party atmosphere prevails. Although a number of the jokes I’d first heard when I was riding my pet dinosaur, as the kids say (“I might as well have applied that Chicken Vindaloo directly to my thighs,” one character groans. “I feel like I’m on the Titanic now,” another says. “What a sinking feeling”), I admit I got caught up in some of the catchy re-lyricized songs from the '60s and '70s that make up the score. Some of the funnier ones include “Thank you Doctor, thank thank you Doctor” (Help Me Rhonda) for the anti-depressants they were all able to cop; and “Stayin’ Awake” (Stayin’ Alive) to describe the pacing and sweating that keeps them busy while the rest of the world is sleeping. With only about 400 seats, SOPAC turns out to be an ideal venue for the show—small and acoustically advanced enough to clearly hear the all-important lyrics.
Of course, this also has something to do with the singing and acting chops of the cast. All four of these women turn in strong, energetic performances that ultimately win us over. Sandy Rosenberg (Earth Mother) starts out as the most painfully typecast, with her long gauzy skirt, crocheted vest and flapping Birkenstocks. But she becomes more likeable by the minute, displaying a powerhouse voice and a sense of slapstick timing that’s reminiscent of Carol Burnett. And I could literally not take my eyes off of Fredena Williams (Professional Woman), whose expressive face and apple-shaped body is used to almost perfect comedic effect. The biggest laugh of the night—I will describe it only as the Tina Turner moment— is all hers.
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It is worth mentioning that Jeanie Linders, the show’s writer and producer and general fairy god mother, is something of a one-woman Soros Foundation for women’s educational, business and health issues. A portion of the proceeds from all performances of "Menopause The Musical" has been designated for local and regional ovarian cancer chapters.
Show times for Menopause The Musical are Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. with matinees on Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. Running time is 90 minutes with no intermission. For tickets call 973-313-ARTS (2787). Groups of 10 or more, call 973-382-1028. SOPAC is located at One SOPAC Way, South Orange, NJ.
