I don’t know if I have ever suggested a certain movie or play before, but I am going to, right now! And what I really suggest is that the men who might be reading this, put the paper down and go outside and walk the dog. This is really just for women!

The night before we left the Cape, a friend called me and asked me to go to the Cape Playhouse to see “Menopause the Musical.” Well, I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to go, but she is a good friend and one that I will miss over the winter, so I decided to go. It was the best show that I have ever, ever seen! And I want to not only tell you about it, I want to encourage every single woman within the sound of my voice to dig down into your purse, grab some money and be absolutely sure that you go. Let me tell you just a little bit about it.

This show only has four women in it, and in the production that I saw, these women had fabulous voices. One represented a working woman, one a TV soap star, one a sort of hippy woman, and one a woman from the Midwest. There was very little talking, just enough to set the various scenes and the rest was all musicÉ with absolutely wonderful lyrics. For me, the music was particularly wonderful because they took all the popular music of my youth and set the new lyrics to it. I think the only thing that might have caused me any problems at all, was that everyone was laughing so hard that I missed a few of the punch lines. And I was laughing so hard that, I kid you not, I almost wet my pants!

I think what made this show so terrific was that every single word that they said or sang was absolutely true. If you have gone through menopause, you will absolutely love it. And throughout I kept thinking how sorry I was that I couldn’t bring my three daughters, all of whom will be reaching this stage of their lives very soon. Although they aren’t quite there yet, they would have loved it and laughed themselves silly.

Now I want you to understand that I absolutely love good theater, especially a musical. When I was in college I used to cross the river and go to all the Broadway shows. After the curtain went up I could get in for only about $7 and many times I got super seats when the original theater goers were paying full price. And I can’t think of one show that I didn’t like. “ Fiddler on the Roof,” “Man from La Mancha,” “Sound of Music” were all high on my list, and back then I saw those shows with the original cast and superstars.

I’m now a lot older and don’t have the resources to go to Broadway so I try and see what I want to see at the Dennis Playhouse, which has been a professional theater since the 30’s. And I also have gone to Boston and there I saw “The Lion King” which I loved, of course, and I saw “Mama Mia” which is a personal favorite! But I am telling you, “Menopause” has popped to the top of my all-time favorites list.

So, my suggestion is this, should you hear that this musical is available anywhere in the northeast and you can figure out how to go, be sure that you do. The day we were leaving the Cape a friend came over and I insisted that she go that night but she wasn’t sure she wanted to go. So, I told her that if she didn’t love it, I would pay for her ticket. Well, she called me just as I was getting back to Vermont and she could hardly talk she was laughing so hard. Needless to say I didn’t have to buy her ticket!