Menopause the Musical

The first time I heard of Menopause the Musical was when the bass player on my demo, Vince Tividad, told me he was playing for it in L.A. a few years ago. Shortly thereafter, my good friend, Linda, saw it and said, "Cami, you should be in this!" I finally got to see it this past weekend at the Laguna Playhouse, almost seven years after its first run.

This hilarious musical deals with life after age 40, specifically targeting the 38 million baby boomer females. The leads represent four contrasting women, the Soap Star, played by Juliet Hicks;Roberta Wall as Earth Mother (I think she played Ethel Mertz at Loving Lucy 2000 and just finished the new Alan Menken musical, "Sister Act" at the Pasadena Playhouse); Iowa Housewife, Marsha Waterbury (a long resume of broadway roles, TV, commercials, etc.); and Professional Woman, Fredena J. Williams (what a voice...many recordings and notable appearances, Boston POPS among them). Oh my, what a wealth of talent! All excellent singers, dancers, and comediennes.

Jeanie Linders, the writer/producer, has done such a clever job of providing appropriate lyrics to the hits of the 60's and 70's in particular. There are too many to note here, but one of several show stoppers was Fredena tackling Tina Turner's hit, "What's Love Got to Do with It." Hysterical! The audience went wild. Oh, and Marsha Waterbury's trying on of lingerie was worth the price of admission.

Considering the fact that as many as 17 productions have been playing simultaneously around the world, from South Korea to Malaysia, Israel to Italy, perhaps one day I'll get a chance to be the "diva princess." And what a kick that would be!