Menopause, the Musical

Yesterday morning we set off on our first Fall adventure, a trip to the Lancaster, Pennsylvania area to see a hilarious celebration of women and their mid-life change - "Menopause, the Musical."

In the Fall of 2011, the husband/lover/travel companion and I had seen this show in Las Vegas where it was playing at the Luxor Hotel.  He had reluctantly agreed to attend it with me, because, well, it deals with some pretty sensitive and often private female issues.  Hot sweats, loss of memory, decreased libido, increased libido, insomnia, fatigue, weight gain and others.

Admittedly, there were mostly females in that audience and again at the show last evening.  A few males were in attendance, though, some looking like they were uncomfortable at having to be there.

However, as the show got rolling, it was easy to get taken up in the humor of it all, and it became impossible not to laugh.  Even the men were laughing.  Especially the men were laughing.  And most especially, my husband was laughing.  Loud.  No, not loud, really loud.  Almost embarrassingly loud.

I was glad he enjoyed himself that night, albeit at the subject of women's suffering.

Because of our good experience with this show in Las Vegas, when we saw that the Dutch Apple Dinner Theater in Lancaster was offering this musical, we decided to take my parents and enjoy a comfortable evening of dinner and laughs with them.

They too enjoyed the show.  I looked over numerous times throughout it and caught my father laughing heartily.

Every woman at some point will go through THE CHANGE, and it seems to affect each in different ways and with its own set of symptoms.  The show's talented cast of four women - a professional, a soap star, an earth mother and an Iowa housewife - sing and dance to many popular parodied tunes spanning the years 1933 to 1985.  For example, the song "Puff the Magic Dragon becomes "Puff, I'm Really Draggin" as the one gal laments on how tired she feels all the time.  Another old song, "Heat Wave"  is parodied to relay the misery of unpredictable hot flashes.

At the close of the performance, we headed out to our car.  The parking lot was raucous with all the laugher of the theater patrons, who had obviously enjoyed the show.

They say (whoever they are) that "laughter is the best medicine."

Now if they would just turn down the heat.  I'm sweating again.