Immediate Release
Media Contact:
Julia Guzman at 941-351-9010 Ext. 4800
MENOPAUSE THE MUSICAL™ CELEBRATES FIFTH YEAR
OF INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS WITH UPCOMING PRODUCTION IN SARASOTA
Hilarious musical celebrating women and “The Change“
opens at the Asolo on Saturday, May 14.
Sarasota, FL – Four years, forty cities and six countries after its world premiere, Menopause The Musical™ celebrates the start of its fifth year of international success with a new Sarasota production opening in The Asolo Theatre Company‘s Harold E. and Esther M. Mertz Theatre. This beautiful, 500 seat, historical theatre will be the Sarasota venue of Menopause The Musical™. The production runs from Saturday, May 14 through June 12, 2005. Ticket prices range from $15 to $47 depending on seat location and performance date and time, and can be purchased by calling 941-351-8000 or toll-free at 800-361-8388. Discounts for groups of 10 or more can be purchased by calling 351-9010 Ext. 4810 or 877-427-6567. For more information, please visit www.asolo.org.
According to Howard Millman, producing artistic director of the Asolo, “Menopause The Musical™ has been a long running smash hit in many cities around the country, including a long successful run in New York. The Asolo theatre is excited to be the first theatre to bring it to the West Coast of Florida. The response has been overwhelming. We are hearing from women’s groups from all over and are filling seats fast. This show will be the hottest ticket in town!”
It all started in a tiny 76-seat perfume-shop-turned-theatre in Orlando, FL on March 28, 2001. Four women at a Bloomingdale’s lingerie sale with nothing in common but a black lace bra and hot flashes, night sweats, memory loss, chocolate binges, not enough sex, too much sex and more. A joyful parody of 26 relyricized classic baby boomer hits, the 90-minute show features such chart-toppers as "I Heard It Thru the Grapevine; You'll No Longer See 39" and the disco favorite "Stayin‘ Awake! Stayin‘ Awake!"
Inspired by a hot flash and a bottle of wine, writer/producer Jeanie Linders created the show as a celebration of women who are on the brink of, in the middle of, or have survived The Change. Since its first performance, the show has evolved as a "grassroots" movement of women who deal with life after 40 and all the challenges that result in the mental, physical and spiritual freedom of the baby boomer generation.
"Most women know intuitively that every other woman is experiencing hot flashes or night sweats. There is always a close friend or two who can sympathize or identify with her," says Linders. "But when they are sitting in a theatre with hundreds of women, all laughing and shouting‚ 'That’s me! That’s me on stage!' they know what they are experiencing is normal. They aren’t alone…or crazy. It becomes a sisterhood."
The show’s production company, TOC Entertainment and Marketing, Inc., has offices in Winter Park, Florida and Los Angeles. The show is directed by Kathryn Conte and choreographed by Patty Bender. Musical and vocal arrangements are by C.T. Hollis, formerly of Bradenton, Florida; the show is performed with a live three-piece band in each venue. Playwright and producer Jeanie Linders is a native of Dixon, Illinois, and earned her graduate degree from Northern Illinois University. Her active work in the arts for the past 30 years includes work as an arts development consultant in Florida, California, North Carolina and Arkansas. She launched Orlando’s first arts incubator, ArtsMall. Linders was president/CEO of an advertising agency specializing in entertainment and hospitality for 10 years, and also launched an events marketing and management firm, producing a variety of shows from A Conversation with Cary Grant to multistage music festivals.
Menopause The Musical™ is currently playing Off Broadway (for three years), as well as long running shows in Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Ft. Lauderdale, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Orlando, and Philadelphia. In addition, Atlanta, Charlotte and San Francisco will also open by the first week in May 2005.
The popularity of Menopause The Musical™ has spread internationally with casts in The Philippines, Mexico, Australia, Israel, and Korea. The original cast, which included FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training graduate Tricia Matthews, spent three weeks in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, performing as guests of the American Embassy.
According to The New York Times, “[Menopause The Musical™] has no trouble winning over its audience…because elsewhere the subject is almost never treated with humor from the woman’s point of view.” The 2003/2004 Zagat New York City Theatre Guide ranks the show at the top of the charts, with a 97% approval rating for the second season in a row.
The Miami Daily Herald wrote “Menopause The Musical™ is the little revue that set the world on fire – at least that portion of the world that knows the term ‘hot flash’ as reality, not a news bulletin or punch line.” And the positive reviews and audience testimonials continue to arrive daily. Joy Behar from The View said, “You’ll love it. It’s hilarious. Go see it.”
MENOPAUSE THE MUSICAL™
IT’S NOT THE SILENT PASSAGE ANYMORE!
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