Menopositive! The Musical, the Elmira Theatre Company’s hottest production, is set to have audiences in stitches this month.
Bringing menopause out for a musical spin, Menopositive! is the story of four 50-something women who get together to stage a revue for their 35th high school reunion. But they get more than they bargained for, as the women reflect on their lives through song and relive the many ups and downs we all face.
“Writer J.J. McColl really felt strongly that her musical has a message,” director Mary Ann Kennedy said. “It has a message about aging, so it is not just a silly little comedy, it has a lot of depth. It talks about alcoholism and it talks about child abuse.”
Menopositive! Introduces us to three menopausal women, former classmates who’ve come together again for their school reunion. Marnie is a career-driven executive, whose current “toyboy” is 21. Cynthia is a conservative housewife with a philandering husband. Kate is a struggling single mom. Charged with putting on a show for the reunion, Kate pens a revue: Menopositive!, in essence forming the basis of a musical within the musical.
Add in the flamboyant Zsu Zsu (Judy Marshak) – a former star in Hungary now working as a cleaning woman – and the stage is set for a funny and tender look at life, relationships and getting older.
“J.J. McColl was a CBC talk show co-host and she wanted to write an article about menopause. So she got together with a bunch of women for a potluck dinner and they had an absolutely hilarious time talking about hot flashes and all the funny things that are associated with menopause. She had so much fun that she decided to get back together with the group three months later,” explained Kennedy, an experienced director who helmed the ETC’s Too Many Cooks in May.
This time, “the whole mood was different.” Instead of the lighter side of the issue, the women discussed the fears related to aging.
“They talked about their fears of getting Alzheimer’s (disease), or losing their spouses, or not having enough money to live on,” Kennedy said.
Armed with two notebooks, one with the laughs and the other with the serious topics, McColl took off to Ireland where she had an epiphany. Why not combine the two for a musical?
“When (McColl) wrote Menopositive! The Musical, she [combined] the humour and the poignant for the words for her original songs to go along with the music that she heard in Ireland.”
And there’s a good variety of tunes.
“There’s a country western called “fool for love,” and there is jazz and blues and ballads,” Kennedy said. “So there is a real mix of music and it’s all simple and it really sticks to you.”
The show features a strong cast of ETC stalwarts and newcomers.
Deb Deckert, a founding member of ETC last seen in Nunsense, plays Zsu Zsu Herendy. Denise Gismondi is Kate Phillips, in her ETC debut. Lindsey Quinn also makes her first appearance with ETC as Cynthia Clark Sawyer. And ETC veteran Tracy Biggar plays Marnie Summers.
The group has been working hard to ensure the production is true to the original story.
“We were very fortunate to have Moyra Rodger from Out to See (Entertainment) Vancouver, who holds the rights to Menopositive! The Musical, come and polish our play,” Kennedy said. “She was J.J. McColl’s best friend, and when (McColl) passed away, she willed the rights to the play to Moyra. And so Moyra came and workshopped our play for a whole day and it was wonderful meeting her and talking to her about the origins of the songs. It was a very enriching experience.”
The characters in the play are all based on real women, she explained, lending the experience that much more emotional power.
The Elmira Theatre Company production of Menopositive! The Musical runs November 14-16, November 20-23, and November 27-29 at 76 Howard Ave. Show times are 7 p.m., except Sundays (5 p.m.) and Thursday (8 p.m.). Tickets are $50 for dinner shows, $20 for the show only, available at the Centre in the Square box office in Kitchener by calling 578-1570 or 1-800-265-8977, online at www.elmiratheatre.com.
