August 6, 2004

HOT FLASH!
Menopause The Musical™

Coming to the Asolo Stage

SARASOTA, FL (August 6, 2004) - The Asolo Theatre Company is pleased to present the Off-Broadway smash hit comedy Menopause The Musical™ written and directed by Jeanie Linders. Performing in the Harold E. and Esther M. Mertz Theatre from May 14 to June 12, 2005, the show is “A Hilarious Salute to Women and The Change.”

According to Howard Millman, producing artistic director of the Asolo, “This is the musical we’ve been wanting to announce for some time. We are very excited to present Menopause The Musical™ on our mainstage. It’s an immensely popular and entertaining show, and a terrific way to close the 2004-2005 Asolo season!”

The show starts with four women at a Bloomingdale’s NYC lingerie sale with nothing in common but a black bra AND memory loss, hot flashes, night sweats, chocolate binges, not enough sex, too much sex and more. A joyful musical parody set to 28 relyricized, classic, baby-boomer tunes such as favorites “I Heard It Through the Grapevine (You’ll No Longer see 39),” and the disco favorite “Stayin’ Awake, Stayin’ Awake,” are hilariously performed to the delight of enthusiastic audiences. This is not The Silent Passage anymore.

The show is co-directed by Kathryn Conte and choreographed and co-directed by Patty Bender. Musical and vocal arrangements are by C.T. Hollis, and the show is performed to a live three-piece band in each venue.

It all started in a small, 84-seat theatre - a renovated retail store in downtown Orlando - in March 2001. Three years and three countries later, Menopause The Musical™ has women dancing in the aisles (and on stage!) in an ever-expanding list of venues. And they keep coming back, sometimes five or six times.

Playwright and producer Jeanie Linders is a native of Dixon, Ill., 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™ also gives back in appreciation of its success, and in support of women. Merchandising proceeds fund Women For Women (W4W), the granting arm of the production. In addition, the 40x40 art exhibit, in concert with each longer-running show, is an opportunity for selected women artists over age 40 to submit a self-portrait reflecting celebration of where they see themselves at this crossroads. Up to five pieces are selected and purchased by TOC Productions to be included on a tour to the next city. Proceeds fund the If Only (IO) awards, an annual grant given to a woman over 40 to pursue her dream - one that may have been unattainable due to life’s circumstances.

The Asolo Theatre Company will present Menopause The Musical™ from May 14 - June 12, 2005, in the Mertz Theatre. Tickets are expected to sell out quickly and should be purchased early for best seating. Single tickets go sale in October, however season subscribers and groups of 10 or more may purchase tickets early. Please call the Asolo Box Office at (941) 351-8000 or toll-free at (800) 361-8388.

And for more information on the hilarity and to view the souvenir catalog, please visit the official Menopause The Musical™ website at www.menopausethemusical.com http://www.menopausethemusical.com>.

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The Asolo is funded in part by the Division of Cultural Affairs, Florida Department of State, The Florida Arts Council, the City and County of Sarasota and the Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax through the Board of County Commissioners, the Tourist Development Council, and the Sarasota Arts Council. The Asolo Theatre Company’s Shakespeare productions are sponsored in part by Shakespeare in American Communities, a national theater initiative sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and The Sallie Mae Fund in cooperation with Arts Midwest. Additional funding is also received through the efforts of support groups including the Asolo Angel Association, the Asolo Theatre Guild, The Directors Emeritus and the generosity of individuals, corporations and foundations.