Menopause 2 Makes North American Debut
GFour Productions, winners of more than 54 Tony Awards, and Shaggypup Productions, exclusive producers of Menopause The Musical in Canada, are bringing the brand-new sequel, Menopause The Musical 2: Cruising Through ‘The Change’ to Ottawa’s Gladstone Theatre for its North American Premiere. The show will be running from May 10th through June 4th.
The producers invited the volunteers and residents of Interval House, St. Joseph’s, Nelson House, Chrysalis House, Cornerstone Women’s Shelter as well as volunteers from the Ottawa Food Bank to a special performance May 5. The response has been terrific.
“When we looked at the plan for Menopause 2, we thought coming back to Ottawa was ideal,” said Seth Greenleaf, President and CEO of GFour Productions. “We have been here two or three times before, and we are always happy to come back.”
Menopause The Musical 2: Cruising Through ‘The Change’ is the sequel to long-running, international hit show Menopause The Musical, a groundbreaking celebration of women who are on the brink of, in the middle of, or have survived “The Change.” Menopause The Musical 2 continues to empower women dealing with life adjustments after 40 by embracing each other and the road ahead.
“Menopause The Musical is about four women who end up fighting over a bra in a department store,” Greenleaf said. “Eventually they form a friendship and a relationship with each other. In the sequel, the women reunite five years later and they go on a cruise together.”
Menopause The Musical 2 is a hilarious and heartfelt look at the joys of menopause and friendship, complete with the hot flashes, mood swings, and memory lapses.
“My favourite part of the show is watching the audience,” Greenleaf said. “The reactions and the laughter are always great.”
Greenleaf said that GFour had no idea that the first Menopause the Musical show would become a worldwide hit with a run of more than 22 years.
“It kind of snuck up on us,” he said. “It was like a lightning in a bottle moment for us.”
Part of the success is that the musical focuses on a topic that had never been explored in a broadway production.
“Because it was so much fun, the show developed a loyal fan base,” Greenleaf said. “The excitement about the show everywhere added to the energy of the production.”
Pandemic helped Menopause 2
While the COVID-19 pandemic turned the live entertainment industry upside down, Greenleaf said that the shutdown gave his team time to focus on the sequel.
“COVID really did give us a chance to channel our focus and get this done,” he said. He added that from the first pen to paper or strike of a keyboard to finished product, the process took about two years.
“We have a strong team of writers who have been with the show for a long time and who have a thorough understanding of the characters and the dynamics,” Greenleaf said.
Menopause 2 is described as a highly charged trip of self-discovery, backed by a new soundtrack of toe-tapping parodied hits from the 70s, 80s and 90s. For these four ladies, menopause was not just the end, but the beginning of a beautiful friendship where love conquers all, and friendships never fail.
“Having the show at the Gladstone will be special,” Greenleaf said. “It is a much smaller and more intimate theatre than the big stages we will be using when the tour begins.”
While the show is a sequel, Greenleaf said that seeing the first show is not necessary to enjoy the second one.
“It was written so that people who are new to Menopause will enjoy the production,” he said. “There might be one or two jokes they might not get if they didn’t see the first one, but they will like the show whether they have seen the firs tone or not. A lot of our audience in Ottawa has been from the suburban communities. For people in Barrhaven who have seen the first show and enjoyed it, they will love the chance to see the sequel.”
Even though Menopause 2 is just going live this week, a third Menopause show is already in the planning stages.
The original Menopause The Musical debuted in Orlando, Florida and ran Off-Broadway for four years performing for more than 1,500 audiences, followed by a U.S. national tour that is still running today. In 2007, it opened internationally in the United Kingdom and has performed in countries including Australia, South Korea, Brazil, France, Slovenia and many more. It is also the longest-running musical in Las Vegas history, performing nightly at Harrah’s Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Beloved for more than 20 years and seen by more than 17 million, Menopause The Musical has played in every state in the continental U.S A., as well as in every province in Canada plus 500 cities worldwide, and has been translated into nine languages.
