Embracing menopause

Menopause the Musical lets women laugh in celebration of the biological changes that come later in life.

WOMEN have different stories of the onset of menopause. Some suffer palpitations while others have headaches, hot flushes (or flashes) and even suffer from depression. But when menopause struck Jeannie Linders, she took it in her stride and wrote a hilarious musical about it. How’s that for a laugh?

“I was inspired to write and create Menopause the Musical (MTM) by an actual hot flash. I was dressed for a formal evening and was heading out the door when it hit and I started dripping. I ran to the freezer, opened the door and started singing ‘Hot Flash’ to Rod Stewart’s Hot Legs.

“As I amused myself with the situation and lyrics, I was inspired to create a show on menopause that would make fun of all the symptoms that women experience. MTM, a parody of nostalgia-inducing songs from the past, was written to help women understand that menopause is a natural passage of life,” said Linders in an e-mail interview with StarTwo.

Linders views MTM as sisterhood support for those affected by menopause – a taboo subject in many communities. To her, the musical is a celebration of what is called “The Change”, and healthy dialogue about ageing and health issues.

Now in its sixth year, MTM has been staged in 10 countries and watched by over nine million viewers worldwide. It was last staged in Kuala Lumpur in 2004.

Linders, who hails from Illinois, the United States, believes the musical has garnered a large following because it combines great music while poking fun at memory loss, night sweats and hot flushes.

The 90-minute comedy musical revolves around four women – an ageing soap star, a power-suit-executive, a suburban housewife and a lost-in-the-60s hippie – who meet for the first time at upscale American department store Bloomingdale’s. While scuffling over a black lace bra in a sale bin, the women discover they share the trials of menopause. Each scene highlights a different symptom or aspect – hot flushes, loss of memory, insomnia, binge eating, motherhood and sex.

The musical stars Jeannette Manor, Michelle Mais, Megan Cavanagh and Chris Callen.

“Women who attend the musical see themselves (or their mothers, sisters, or friends) as the characters on stage. The humour makes them forget about their symptoms and celebrate menopause. Apart from this, the musical creates a ‘sisterhood’ among female audiences,” explained Linders, who took three months to write MTM in 2000.

Often they sing along to Linders’ catchy lyrics, adapted around songs like Wish We All could be Sane and Normal Girls (Beach Boy’s California Girls); My Husband Sleeps Tonight (Pete Seeger’s The Lion Sleeps Tonight); Stayin’ Awake (Bee Gee’s Stayin’ Alive); My Thighs (Mary Well’s My Guy); It’s on My Thighs (Betty Everett’s It’s in His Kiss) and Drippin’ and Tricklin (Dusty Springfield’s Wishing and Hoping).
“I love these songs and the catchy music. They are great classic songs that everyone is familiar with. The lyrics ‘lent’ themselves naturally to those particular melodies,” said Linders, who was formerly with an advertising agency.

MTM is Linder’s first step in bringing women’s issues to the forefront. Following the successful musical, she has moved on to establish Entertainment to Empowerment, a foundation that provides financial support for women in areas like business development, arts, culture and education.

She has also launched me*Magazine, a bi-monthly lifestyle publication for women.

Linders was profiled in Fearless Women: Midlife Portraits, an inspirational book in celebration of women’s wisdom and freedom.

“The essays that accompany the book’s photos offer proof that women don’t begin a downhill slide at 40. Rather they blossom in boldness, beauty, and complexity as they age. I was flattered to be included.”

Linders is in the midst of writing a sequel to the musical. Her upcoming book deals with the four characters and their friendship after they leave New York. Looks like we can expect even more laughter when MTM’s sequel hits our shores.
source:www.star-ecentral.com