High jinks on the high seas

Five years after their chance encounter in a department store, the characters of the smash-hit Menopause: The Musical are back for a sequel which will see them setting sail, and arriving at Green Bay’s Weidner Center this Wednesday, Oct. 29.

“Menopause: The Musical debuted in 2001, so next year we’re celebrating the 25th anniversary of that show…” said Teri Adams, who plays the Iowa housewife in the show. “Two years ago, we started this sequel and a lot of the same audience members are coming because they’re kind of invested in these characters. They’re curious to see what’s going on with them. It takes place five years after the first one and it’s the same four characters — you’ve got the soap star, the Earth mother, the professional woman and the Iowa housewife.”

But what is it that keeps audiences coming back to see what these characters are up to? Adams said it’s the way audiences tend to recognize a bit of themselves or other women from their lives in the characters.

“I think women see themselves in these characters,” Adams said. “We’ll meet with a group of women after the show and one of them will say, ‘I’m more like the soap star’ or ‘I’m more like the professional woman’ or ‘You remind me so much of my sister…’ Even though they’re very broad archetypes of characters, eventually they’re friends… I think they’re just terribly relatable, as is, of course, the subject matter.”

Described as “a hilarious and heartfelt look at the joys of menopause and friendship,” Menopause The Musical 2: Cruising Through The Change expands on the groundwork laid in the original Menopause The Musical.

“We kind of draw the curtain back on a subject that was once kind of taboo to talk about — menopause — and we sing and dance about it for 90 minutes…” Adams said. “We can sort of be in this safe space together inside the theater for 90 minutes and we can talk about it and laugh about it and share our experiences.”

The soundtrack, which features parodies of familiar tunes, helps to keep things lighthearted and audiences laughing.

“The original one was more music from the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s, but now as our audience is changing, the music is more ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s…” Adams said. “The song ‘Once, Twice, Three Times a Lady…’ We do ‘Once, Twice, Three Pads a Daily,’ for Depends and having to pee all the time. I remember thinking, ‘Oh, that’s never going to play. That’s just crazy,’ and it consistently seems to bring the house down. People think it’s hysterical. We also do an old ‘70s song, ‘Disco Inferno’ and it’s called ‘AC Inferno’ for us since we’re hot flashing. There’s a lot of great songs. For the song ‘I Need a Hero’ we sing ‘I Need a Vino’ about wine.

It’s just 90 minutes of that — poking fun at ourselves and just having fun, getting through it all together and celebrating friendship.”

And if an audience member hasn’t seen the first show, Adams said they’ll still be able to enjoy the sequel.

“There’s a few little throwbacks to the first one, but nothing that you’re going to look at your friend and say, ‘What is that? What did I miss?’” Adams said.

“It’s nothing like that… The show opens with spotlights on each character and describing who she is and what she’s about and then we just take it from there.

It’s super easy to follow and just a really fun time — high jinks on the high seas, as we like to say.”

To get in on the fun, visit weidnercenter.com/broadway-in-green-bay/.