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Women of We're Still Hot, the Musical, are "Menopositive"; Canadian Hit Makes U.S. Debut Jan. 5
By Kenneth Jones
13 Dec 2004
We're Still Hot, the musical about menopausal women in their fifties putting on a show at the 35th high school reunion, makes its U.S. premiere Jan. 5, 2005, in Manhattan after being a hit in Canada under the title Menopositive!
Entertainment Events Inc., and Waxman Williams Entertainment with Robert Dragotta, will present the Off-Broadway staging of the award-winning show with a book by JJ McColl and score by McColl and Rueben Gurr.
With the smash success of Menopause the Musical in the U.S., it's no surprise that there was a name change for Menopositive — why confuse the consumer? Unlike Menopause the Musical (which is an Off-Broadway hit and blossoming in productions around the world) We're Still Hot boasts an original score rather than parody lyrics added to pop tunes.
Under the title Menopositive!, the show played sold-out performances in Ontario, British Columbia, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Sue Wolf will direct the New York production.
The hot-flashing foursome in New York are Cheryl Freeman (Fame on 42nd Street, The Civil War), Deirdre Kingsbury, Melodie Wolford and Jane Seaman (The Secret Garden, Anything Goes).
Opening night is Jan. 27 at the Theater at St. Luke’s, 308 West 46th Street. The space previously housed Tony n' Tina's Wedding, Late Nite Catechism and Maybe Baby It's You.
Performances will be Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8 PM with matinees Wednesday at 2 PM, Saturday and Sunday at 3 PM.
"JJ McColl, a veteran of the Canadian Broadcasting Company, based We're Still Hot on stories she recorded of dozens of women at a series of potluck dinners," according to production notes. "Collaborating with her was Rueben Gurr, a musician since the late 1960s. He currently has three publications in print, 'Music Therapy and the Guitar,' 'A Manual for the Singing Songwriter' and 'Forms, Styles and Idioms: Tools for Arranging, Improvising and Composing.'"
Director Sue Wolf's credits include being "Peter Marshall's cue card girl on the original 'Hollywood Squares,'" serving as a critic for Variety and producing and directing stand-up comedy shows. She has worked for Comedy Central, MTV, Disney, Lifetime, CBS, ABC, TBS, UPN and has had over 50 shows on HBO. She is known for the classic long-form one-comic-per-half-hour shows that broke ground in the 1980s. In addition to spearheading the acclaimed series "One Night Stand," she produced the first all-black stand-up show called "Uptown Comedy Express," and the first all female stand-up show called "Women of the Night."
She produced and/or directed specials which included Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Ellen DeGeneres, John Larroquette, Chris Rock, Tracy Ullman, Paul Rodriguez, Martin Mull, Denis Leary, Joy Behar, Janeanne Garofalo, Sandra Bernhardt, Julia Sweeney, and Martin Short.
Currently, Wolf is directing another version of Funny Business (a musical about comics).
Musical direction is by Alan Plado. Designers are Takeshi Kata (set), Philip Heckman (costume), Greg Cohen (lighting) and Drew Levy (sound).
Tickets range $45 during previews (Jan. 5-26) to $55 for all other performances. For information, call (212) 352-3101 or toll free at (866) 811-4111. For more information, visit werestillhot.com.
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Entertainment Events Inc. is responsible for Late Nite Catechism, which it premiered in Boston in 1995. Since then, EEI added Maybe Baby, It's You, Tony n' Tina's Wedding, Defending the Caveman, Finnegan's Farewell, Menopause The Musical, Late Nite Catechism II and Sister's Christmas Catechism to its roster of touring properties.
Entertainment Events productions have been presented in all 50 states as well as in Canada, Europe, Australia and Asia grossing over 75 million dollars in box office.
Waxman Williams Entertainment represents the merging talents of two of Broadway producers Anita Waxman and Elizabeth Williams. Their productions have received 71 Tony Award nominations and 16 Tony Awards. Waxman Williams Entertainment is currently represented on Broadway by A R Rahman's Bombay Dreams, which is expected to tour in 2005-06.
With The Culture Project, Robert Dragotta produced White Chocolate at the Century Theater Off Broadway. He was also producer with The Culture Project for the award-winning Sarah Jones solo show bridge and tunnel. He is currently a producer of Bombay Dreams on Broadway. He recently produced Lorna Luft's tribute to Judy Garland at the Savoy Theater in London and the Parker Playhouse in Fort Lauderdale Florida.
Dragotta produced the national tour of Some Like it Hot, starring Tony Curtis and recently co-produced the Broadway revival of Flower Drum Song with Lea Salonga.
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