WARREN, Ohio – In the original “Menopause,” four ladies who meet while shopping bond over that one big aspect of life that they are all going through.
In the sequel, the four are now good friends and are going on a cruise together.
And that is all the background information the audience needs to enjoy “Menopause 2.” A touring production of the new hit musical will come to Packard Music Hall on Nov. 4.
Like the original, “Menopause 2” features hilarious song remakes and a lot of camaraderie, said Stacey Harris, who plays one of the four leading ladies.
Harris plays Soap Star – a once-successful actor who is now a bit stymied by her age.
Like Soap Star, all of the characters go by their nicknames in “Menopause,” and not their real names. The others are Iowa Housewife, Professional Woman and the Earth Mother.
Harris explained the reason.
It’s a writer’s tactic that makes the characters universally identifiable to women everywhere.
“Part of the original concept was that our audiences can relate to them and sort of see themselves in these characters,” Harris said. “Instead of being identified by an actual name, it’s a type of person they relate to.”
Audience members often connect with one particular character.
“They’ll come up to us after the show and say, ‘Oh, I’m a Soap Star, and she’s the Professional Woman, or she’s the Iowa Housewife,” Harris said. “They really recognize themselves or traits about themselves.”
Though the four are very different women, they are all dealing with menopause and have different challenges.
Harris said she loves her role.
“She used to be a star in soap operas, and now she realizes the opportunities are coming fewer and farther between,” she said. “It’s not the same as when she was younger, and she’s coming to terms with that, whereas some of the other characters, maybe they’re dealing with being a grandmother or dealing with the loss of their spouse or dealing with challenges with their partners.”
After five years of not seeing each other, the four ladies go on a tropical cruise to catch up with each other’s lives – and see how they are going through “the change.”
“They recognize more than ever that their friendships and their sisterhood really helps them get through the things that affect all women,” Harris said.
The show makes lighthearted fun out of a not-so-glamous part of every woman’s life, and that’s what connects so strongly with the audience.
It also propels the cast.
“With the support of their menopause sisters, they can laugh; they can support each other – and it really is a lot of fun,” Harris said. “It’s so fun for us to do, to share it with the audience.”
The secret weapon of both “Menopause” shows might just be the songs.
They’re all tunes that were once real-world radio hits, but with all-new lyrics that parody what is taking place at that moment.
“It’s songs that our audiences recognize, because it’s music from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, but with parody lyrics,” Harris said. “It might be a song that, as soon as it starts, you think, ‘Oh, that’s familiar.’ But then the lyrics are talking about what we’re all going through.”
It might be about hot flashes, or it might be about night sweats, loss of libido or other things that affect women as they go through menopause.
“We can laugh about it, and it helps our audiences feel seen, because it’s all normal,” Harris said.
All of the song titles might ring a bell. Examples include “Holding Out for a Hero,” from the film “Footloose,” or the disco classic “Disco Inferno.”
The music and fun almost always gets many audience members dancing in the aisles.
Harris loves the enthusiasm the show garners and the opportunity she has to share it.
“They’re on their feet, dancing at the end of every show,” she said. “[It shares] the message for women of every age, of every size, that you’re all important. It really is an important message, and it makes me feel good to be spreading that message throughout North America.”
Harris never appeared in the original “Menopause,” but she launched the Soap Star role in the premiere of “Menopause 2,” which was at Bucks County Playhouse near Philadelphia in 2023.
She then took over the part on the North American touring production.
The original “Menopause” premiered in 2001 and became a global hit. Harris is hoping the same happens for the sequel – and it looks like it will.
“We’ve been all around the U.S. and to many stops in Canada,” she said. “The show just keeps going because audiences love it.”
Many who have seen the original are making a beeline to see the sequel, she said.
“We love seeing our audiences have so much fun and bond with their sisters, with their friends, their moms,” Harris said. “And men enjoy it too. We have some people who bring their husbands, their boyfriends, their male friends, and we see the guys out there having a great time too. It really is a fun vacation for everyone.”
The show will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 4 at Packard Music Hall. Tickets range from $42 to $72 and are available at Ticketmaster.com and the Packard box office, which is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday-Friday.
Pictured at top: Deb Radloff, Stacey Harris, Mary Louise Lee and Teri Adams star in the “Menopause 2” touring production. (Photo by KGE Photography)