Menopause The Muscial

Menopause the Musical, the smash hit which has had an open run at the Apollo Theater has announced a close date of November 19. Menopause is the highest grossing show in the Apollo Theater's 28-year history. It’s also the second longest running show in the theater’s history. When it closes, the production will have run 175 weeks for 1,281 performances and have been seen by nearly 250,000 patrons.

The musical, written and produced by Jeanie Linders, all started in a tiny 76-seat perfume-shop-turned-theatre in Orlando, Fla., on March 28, 2001. Four women at a Bloomingdale's lingerie sale with nothing in common but a black lace bra and hot flashes, night sweats, memory loss, chocolate binges, not enough sex, too much sex, and more. A joyful parody of 25 re-lyricized classic baby boomer hits, the 90-minute show features such chart-toppers as "I Heard It Thru the Grapevine; You No Longer See 39" and the disco favorite "Stayin' Awake! Stayin' Awake!"

Inspired by a hot flash and a bottle of wine, writer/producer Jeanie Linders created the show as a celebration of women who are on the brink of, in the middle of, or have survived The Change. Since its first performance, the show has evolved as a "grassroots" movement of women who deal with life after 40 and all the challenges that result in the mental, physical and spiritual freedom of more than 38 million post WWII baby boomer females. Menopause The Musical has evolved into to a women's movement that targets the interests, needs, and sensibilities of women over 40 through a free magazine, an art show – the visual celebration of women over 40, and a nonprofit charity, the Entertainment To Empowerment Foundation, which is underwritten by sales from the show's product and souvenir line.

According to Linders, “Most women know intuitively every other woman is experiencing the memory loss or night sweats or hot flashes. They talk about it with their friends and, on occasion, with their spouses. But, when they're in a theatre with hundreds of women all shouting 'that's me!' then they know what they are experiencing is normal. They aren't crazy; they call it a 'sisterhood.’ ”

The Chicago production opened in July 2003, and features Judy Blue as Soap Star, Jeanne Croft as Iowa Housewife, Margaret Knapp as Earth Mother and Mekole Wells as Power Woman.

The Apollo Theater is located at 2540 N. Lincoln Avenue. Tickets are $46.50, and can be purchased at the box office and all Ticketmaster locations. You can also call (773) 935-6100.