Seven Days: Vermont's Independent Voice

Biological Bonding

Song-and-dance spectacles thrive on offbeat subject matter, but Menopause — The Musical wins the prize for weirdness. In Jeanie Linders’ 2001 play, four female stereotypes — Professional Woman, Earth Mother, Soap Star and Iowa Housewife — butt heads at a Bloomingdale’s lingerie sale. For the next 90 minutes, the women swap stories in a sisterhood of song: Hot flashes, changing sex drives, memory loss, chocolate binges and body issues fuel parodies of two dozen golden oldies. The musical adaptations tend toward the schmaltzy: The Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive” becomes “Stayin’ Awake,” while ’60s Motown hit “My Guy” transposes to “My Thighs.” But baby boomers dealing with “the change” may want to laugh and go with the flow in a show that’s about, er, going without it. Partial proceeds from this week’s Rutland and Burlington shows support awareness of ovarian cancer.