Book & lyrics by Jeanie Linders
At: Apollo Theater, 2540 N. Lincoln Ave.
Phone: (773) 935-6100; $46.50
Runs through: open run
The Apollo Theatre can be said, with no salacious intent whatsoever, to owe its success to the marketing of female genitals. Following a nearly three-year run of The Vagina Monologues, Menopause: The Musical continues the pussy-power theme, invoking another universal rite of passage—for half the population, anyway.
Author/lyricist Jeanie Linders presents us with four women—ex-hippie Earth Mother, wholesome Iowa Housewife, image-conscious Soap Star, and briefcase-toting Power Woman. They bond in the fantasy-land of Bloomingdale's, reuniting at various in-store sites to share the woes—and comforts—associated with The Change. (Warning to males in attendance: you will hear incontinence jokes and vibrator jokes, but if you're seated on the aisle, you might get vamped during a hot flash.) Their commiserations take the form of remembered popular songs—24 in all, a lot of copyright clearance—outfitted with new words.
A score essentially based in gynecentric 'felking' risks succumbing to slumber-party giggles—'Don't Make Me Over' is an easy target, as is 'Beauty Is Only Skin Deep' and 'New Attitude.' But what kicks the show into gear is a complaint against insomnia set to the Bee Gees' 'Staying Alive' entitled 'Staying Awake,' quickly followed by a sympathetic nod to patient spouses comprised of Earth Mother crooning, 'In the guest room/or on the sofa/my husband sleeps tonight' as her companions chant, 'Oh, she's a witch/Oh, she's a bitch, etc.' and dance choreographer Patty Bender contributes a sly Lion King reference.
Under the musical direction of C.T. Hollis and backed by a three-piece band, the quartet of seasoned warblers—Judith Day, Michelle Lee Bradley, Lisa Steinman and Wydetta Carter—gamely shake booty and titty, endowing Linders' flimsy lyrics with sparkle and vitality undiminished by the hormonal cred necessary for their roles (Carter, in particular, stops the show with a serenade to sex toys—'What's love got to do with it?/Who needs romance/for our own private dancing?'—performed in Tina Turner drag). And the rush of audience members to join in the Big Dance Finale—'YMCA' adapted to 'This Is Your Day!'—would seem to indicate another long stay for this lightweight, but undeniably amusing, girls'-night-out romp.
