Menopause the Musical – Westchester Broadway Theatre

Megan Cavanagh, Roberta B. Wall, Donna J. Huntley and Debby Rosenthal. Photo by John Vecchiolla.
By Gerard Falco.

If you are unfamiliar with Menopause The Musical and thinking that an outlandish title reasonably implies an outlandish play, then relax, your instincts are fully in-tact.  The play is running for a limited time at the Westchester Broadway Theatre through March 24th.  The original production, written by Jeanie Linders, was first presented in March of 2000 and appeared as an off-Broadway production in April of 2001 where it has since logged over 1500 performances. This production by GFOUR Productions is directed by Seth Greenleaf.

This simple musical parody revolves around four middle-aged women of dissimilar backgrounds kvetching about menopause and the woes of aging through lyrically amusing classic pop and Motown tunes. The diverse cast includes “professional woman” (Donna J. Huntley), “earth mother” (Megan Cavanagh), “soap star” (Debby Rosenthal) and “Iowa housewife (Roberta B. Wall). The parodied lyrics created by Ms. Linders are witty and uproarious as are the choreographed dance and comedic theatrics (supervised by Natalie Nucci) between the performers .

The play is one act of approximately ninety minutes long which includes a musical score of about two dozen well known songs. The music behind the performers is pre-recorded. Sound design is by Steve Shapiro. The simple and tasteful set (designed by Bud Clark) is the Bloomingdale’s department store in New York City. Costume design meant to exemplify the unique role of each of the different performers is by Sue Hill and the lighting design intended to follow the fast-moving choreography is cleverly done by Ryan Partridge.

Roberta B. Wall, Megan Cavanagh, Donna J. Huntley and Debby Rosenthal. Photo by John Vecchiolla.

One is curious at the outset how an entire play can be built around a single theme, a simple set and four actors. However, momentum builds as each of these terrific voices capture your attention. In solo form each of these ladies can truly belt out a tune, and in chorus their combined voices are exceedingly well matched to create beautiful harmonies.

It was anticipated, especially in this present era, that the play would draw upon the cultural dissimilarities of each of the characters. In fact, the writer chose to smartly demonstrate the common connection of all women regardless of their background.  It goes without saying that the women in our lives will fully understand and appreciate the humor of this play. Indeed, and without spilling any secrets, this is empirically proven at a particular point in the play. This is not to say that the men won’t enjoy the show as well. This male writer giggled, laughed and enjoyed the production as much as the rest of the audience.

Running Time: 90 minutes.
Menopause the Musical is playing at The Westchester Broadway Theatre until March 24th. The theatre is located at One Broadway Plaza, Elmsford NY. For tickets contact the box office at (914) 592-2222 or click here.