You’ve heard of the “Vagina Monologues.” Well, how about “Menopause the Musical”?
The show is a 90-minute production that includes 25 re-lyricized tunes from the ’60s and ’70s, featuring such chart-toppers as “I Heard It Through the Grapevine; You No Longer See 39” and the disco favorite “Stayin’ Awake! Stayin’ Awake!” The show culminates with a salute to women who are experiencing “The Change.”
Set in Bloomingdale’s department store in Manhattan, four women with seemingly nothing in common but a black lace bra meet by chance. The musical pokes fun at things such as hot flashes, memory loss, mood swings, night sweats and eating binges.
Inspired by a hot flash and a bottle of wine, writer and producer Jeanie Linders created the show as a celebration of women who are on the brink of, are in the middle of, or have survived menopause.
From the show has sprung a grass-roots women’s movement that includes such outlets as a free magazine, an art show and a nonprofit charity, the Entertainment to Empowerment Foundation, which is underwritten by sales from the show’s product and souvenir line.
Linders said most women intuitively know what’s happening to them and their friends.
“They talk about it with their friends and, on occasion, with their spouses,” Linders was quoted as saying on the “Menopause The Musical” Web site.
“But, when they’re in a theater with hundreds of women all shouting ‘That’s me!’ then they know what they are experiencing is normal. They aren’t crazy; they call it a ‘sisterhood.’ “
“Murder at the Masquerade”: Collaborating with local businesses, The New Everett Theatre will again be host to a party to kick off the fall season of fun and festivities.
This year, the theater company’s annual fundraiser will be at the historic Monte Cristo Ballroom in downtown Everett, where guests will be served a healthy portion of murder, mystery, music and mayhem.
The theater is combining the ultimate masquerade and costume contest with the ultimate whodunnit.
Meet the different characters who will amaze and entertain you through the evening of murder and mayhem. Be the one who leaves the scene of the crime with the grand prize for solving the puzzle or wearing the best costume.
“The Pirates of Penzance”: Whidbey Children’s Theater, in Langley on Whidbey Island, presents this Gilbert and Sullivan musical farce, opening today.
The plot revolves around Frederic, apprenticed as a child to a band of tenderhearted, orphaned pirates by his nurse, Ruth, who, being hard of hearing, had mistaken her master’s instructions to apprentice the boy to a pilot.
Frederic, upon completing his 21st year, rejoices that he has fulfilled his indentures and is now free to return to respectable society. But it turns out he was born on Feb. 29 in a leap year, and he remains apprenticed until his official 21st birthday.
By the end of the opera, the pirates, a major general who knows nothing of military strategy, the general’s large family of beautiful but unwed daughters, and the timid constables all contribute to a cacophony that can be silenced only by Queen Victoria’s name.
The production is directed by Kira Keeney and produced by Rob Scott with an orchestra conducted by Michael Yocco. The cast and orchestra features more than 50 students.
“Betrayal”: Harold Pinter’s play, now playing at Seattle’s Bathhouse Theatre, is the story of a love triangle, told in reverse chronological order.
Jerry, a literary agent, is the lover of Emma, who runs an art gallery and is married to Robert, a book publisher and Jerry’s best friend. The evening begins with a meeting between Jerry and Emma two years after their relationship has ended and then proceeds backward. It ends eight years earlier, when Jerry first tells Emma his true feelings.
Janeane Garofalo: The actress and comedian will be joined by her friends (to be announced) in a spirited conversation: “Politics and the Press: Fair &Balanced or Lazy &Cowed?”
This is where Garofalo will ask the following questions:
How well-informed are we?
Where does an informed electorate get the news?
Can we influence the lockstep inanity of the mainstream press?
Are blogs the answer?
When does national security trump the public’s right to know?
Whatever happened to the fairness doctrine?
Why is Fox news so successful?
What we can do to restore diversity and fairness to the nation’s media?
Can our democracy survive without it?
Garofalo’s forum will take place at Town Hall, which showcases Seattle’s artistic and civic energy with music, literature and discussion programs.
Sarakasi – Amazing African Acrobats: The University of Washington World Music &Theatre Series begins its season Sunday with Sarakasi – Amazing African Acrobats.
Hailing from Mombassa, Kenya, Sarakasi breathes new life into the word “circus.” This two-hour spectacular features human pyramids, eight-pin juggling, contortionists, high-energy dance, drumming, music and colorful costumes.
“The Trickster’s Trunk”: The new show from Teatro Zinzanni, opening Thursday, explores the magical power of love.
Young and beautiful Madame ZinZanni inherited Teatro ZinZanni from her late husband, and she runs it with the help of three well-meaning but easily distracted bodyguards.
When her former maitre d’ suddenly shows up without a shadow but with a strange and wonderful trunk, mysterious things begin to happen.
The performance marks the Seattle debut of British powerhouse performer Melanie Stace as Madame ZinZanni. San Francisco-based actor Ron Campbell plays the chef.
Seattle’s own Rachel DeShon makes her Teatro ZinZanni debut as the rollerskating opera diva.
Teatro ZinZanni has delighted audiences with its three-hour swirling stream of performance, music and comedy all presented in the elegance and intimate comfort of a beautiful, antique Belgian tent.
Guests are seated restaurant style for a five-course meal to watch the show unfold beside, around, and even above their tables.
“The Miraculous Mandarin”/”Petruchska”: Spectrum Dance Theater, which is the resident dance company of The Moore Theatre, and Seattle Theatre Group present this world premiere double-bill.
Choreographed by acclaimed Spectrum artistic director Donald Byrd, these works are performed with live musical accompaniment from Italy’s Trio Diaghilev, making their first Seattle appearance.
These powerful pieces are dance re-interpretations based on Bela Bartok and Igor Stravinsky’s music masterpieces of the same titles from the early 20th century.
The cast of Whidbey Children’s Theatre’s production of “The Pirates of Penzance.”
Sarakasi – Amazing African Acrobats performs Sunday in Seattle.
Chris Bennion photo
Cynthia Jones (Power Woman), Juliet Hicks (Soap Star), Laura Lee O’Connell (Iowa Housewife), and Jayne Muirhead (Earth Mother) in “Meno-pause the Musical.”
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