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Backstage with Stacey Harris of Menopause the Musical · Backstage at The EPC's Podcast

• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: Hello and welcome to Backstage at the EPC.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: Today I welcome Stacy Harris with Menopause the Musical, which will be at the EPC on Thursday, October 29th.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome, Stacey.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: So excited to be here to chat with you about Menopause the Musical.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: So tell me a little bit about Menopause the Musical.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Well, this is our 25th anniversary season, which is pretty amazing when you think about shows.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um 25 years is pretty significant that have been around for this long that still sell out.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: And so I'm grateful to be a part of it.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: Now I have not been with the show for 25 years, but I joined the company about three years ago, and I started, I kind of went backwards because I started with the sequel, Menopause the Musical 2, Cruising Through the Chain.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: And we've had them here before too.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: That show is amazing.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: I was there.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we do come back to the same theaters, and what's so wonderful is that we continue to have fans who want to come back, whether it's the original, they've seen it before, they want to come back and see it again, or whether they've seen the original a few times and they come back and see the sequel.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: So I started with the sequel, and then this year, it being the 25th anniversary, they brought me on to the original.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I learned the original back in July, and just the fact that it keeps going, we keep selling out, and we keep having enthusiastic audiences around the globe, it just speaks to the power of this show.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: Not only is it joyful, a message of empowerment for women, but it also really recognizes how important your friends are.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: And that friendship can get you through anything.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: So whether you're dealing with hot flashes or you're dealing with getting older and you're feeling it in your knees, in your joints, you're not sleeping through the night.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: All these topics that can be kind of heavy, but we deal with them in a lighthearted way.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: We're singing about them, we're joking about them, but we're also leaning on our friends to get through these challenges that we have as women as we get older.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: But it's still such an enlightening show.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's empowering, it's enriching, and it's fun.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's the overall feel of menopause musicals.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: It really does feel like a party because it's a celebration, a celebration of women, a celebration of friendship, and a celebration of who we are as we get older.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's it's it is such an amazing show.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I love that we are talking about those things so much more than we were 10, 20 years ago.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's amazing even the last 10 years.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um again, for this show to have been kind of at the forefront of that, celebrating 25 years.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: 25 years ago, when it first started, people didn't even want to say the word menopause.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: And now you have all these celebrities who are talking about it, who are selling products to help people work through these challenges with menopause and to see beautiful, sexy women like Halle Berry, who are being very honest and open about the challenges that they're dealing with, it makes it a topic that is people become more comfortable talking about.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I think that's how you move forward as you know generations go on and being able to work through all of those and and offer more guidance and help.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're not talking about it, then people you know, you're just living with it by yourself.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that's yeah, so it's a great way to to kind of sell like you said, celebrate women and celebrate that that time and uh change the change.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um you guys are doing your North American tour right now.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: And so did it just start in September?
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: So the tour started in September.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: We did sort of a pre-tour month in Laguna Beach in July, which is where I learned it.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: We did a two-week run there to kind of get everything going and share it with some California audiences, and then the tour started in September.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: We'll go all the way up almost to Thanksgiving, then we'll start up again at the beginning of the year and go up until the summer.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: And we're not sure next year we might do some part of the year as of one, some part of the year of the sequel.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: We're not sure yet.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: But if all goes well as it has been for the last 25 years, this is gonna just keep going.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: And like you said about women struggling alone, that's something we hear a lot from our audiences that this show helps them see.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, we all go through this, and you're not alone.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: And the things you might be feeling that in the past wouldn't be talked about, hush, hush, you can't talk about it, to see these women because it's a cast of four, and they're four very different women, different walks of life, different careers, different relationship situations.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: But to see these women on stage talking about these things helps our audiences to say, Oh, I'm not alone, and they recognize themselves in these characters.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: Speaking of, which character do you uh portray?
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I play soapstar.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: So each of the characters are um more description of the person versus a name, and part of that is because we do want our audiences to recognize themselves in these characters.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: So we have four characters soapstar, that's me, and she's struggling with getting older.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: She's dealing with her vanity because she doesn't want to be replaced by somebody younger.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: And then we have the Iowa housewife, we have the Earth Mother and Professional Woman.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: So they all have different challenges, different scenarios.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: Some are married, some are divorced, some are single.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: So um they have different work situations, children.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and these characters also go into the sequel.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's just five years later.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: So that's another reason why we have audiences that like to come back and let's see what happened to these people now that they're good friends.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: Because in the first one, they meet, they start off as strangers, okay, and they meet at a sale at Bloomingdale's.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: They're all just going to the bras, bra and panty sale at Bloomingdale's, and suddenly they start talking about what they're dealing with and bond and end up spending the whole day together in Bloomingdale's talking, singing, laughing uh through all the challenges that they're each dealing with in menopause.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: So, how long have your co-characters um been doing menopause?
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so we have quite a range.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: We have um one woman who's been with it almost since the beginning.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: She took some time off when she had children, and then she's come back.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: So we do have quite a range of people that are newer than me.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um and then we have people that have been there from the beginning.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: So it really is a range, and that's something so wonderful about this show and this opportunity is that there aren't a lot of jobs like this, especially for women in midlife, where it can just keep going.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: But we also do get breaks.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said, we're off of the holidays.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: Uh typically we are off during the summer, but there might be like a short little gig somewhere like we did with Laguna.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: So And do you have um like several casts?
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like, are there several Metapods the Musicals like shows going on at different places throughout the this tour, right?
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: How many casts are there?
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: And do you stay with yours?
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: So with the the US tour, which sometimes does go to Canada, we're not going to Canada this year, but there are several different people that know each role.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: So there is some mixing and matching.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but at this point I've now worked with everybody.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and that's really fun because you it put a little different spin on it, a little different energy when you're seeing different people and working with different people.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: And because the show has been successful around the globe, there are other casts that I've never met that are doing it in Australia or doing it, you know, in a different country.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I've never crossed paths with them.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: And then there also was a company for many years in Las Vegas, which just recently closed.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: But that was separate from the tour.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: So the tour, I would say there are about maybe two to three to four people that know each role, of which helps with mixing and matching, and if people have other situations to deal with, because again, we are middle-aged women.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: Some people have maybe a sick parent or something that they have to deal with, and we are lucky that we have people that can mix and match and come in.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: So, where are you originally from?
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: I'm originally from Raleigh, North Carolina.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, and my parents still live there, so I do go down to visit them a few times a year, but I actually spent some time in Illinois.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that's what I thought I read that you went to Northwestern.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: I did, yes.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: I was a theater major at Northwestern, and then I started my career in Chicago doing theater there before I went on um a tour, a showboat tour, not menopause tour.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: This was many years ago, and it was after that that I decided to move to New York.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: So I've been based in New York City ever since then, but I do travel a lot, even before the menopause tour.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: I traveled a lot to do theater, whether it was tours or regional theater or Broadway, off Broadway, you know.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: You have a very extensive um resume from what I can see.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_01: If you've about done it all, I feel like.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: I feel very lucky for the opportunities I've had.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: I I really enjoy the variety of it all, the different places I get to go to, the different kinds of roles, some that are a little more focused on the acting, maybe some more focused on the singing, some more focused on the dancing.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: So it really is such a pleasure.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'm very grateful that I've had the opportunities that I've had.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um do you have a favorite um like scene or musical number from Menopause?
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: Well, um, just to describe for the audience who maybe have never seen Menopause Musical, we have songs that really is chalk full of songs from the 60s, 70s, and 80s.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: And it's songs that our audiences will recognize, but then there are parody lyrics.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: So it's lyrics about what we're going through, but it's songs that they know and love.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: So that's part of the fun of it, is that maybe a song will start.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: We have a fun section, we call it the disco section, because it's all these disco songs like staying alive and night fever, that as soon as people start to hear at the beginning of that song, they know it or they recognize it.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: But then instead of staying alive, it's staying awake because we can't fall asleep.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's a that's an issue that people deal with as they go through menopause.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: And instead of night fever, it's night sweating because another issue that people deal with at night.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: So again, it's you're bringing up all the issues, but making it fun way.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I do really love that section, and um, I think the audience really enjoys that too.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: But there are just so many great songs, and the laughter is really, I would say, my favorite part of the whole experience is just to hear the audience really responding and really laughing, whether it's to the scenes or the music um and the specificity of the characters that they're all four so different.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: And that is also part of the fun.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, our the audience is going to connect with one of you.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we'll hear that if we see people afterwards, they'll say, Oh, I'm you, I'm John Substar, or you know, something like that.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: Or probably Iowa um housewife, you know, for around here, I feel like.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: Especially when we play Iowa.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: That really gets a lot of extra laughs.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I'm sure.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, for sure.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: It really is nice to have the audience see themselves up on stage.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we are so excited to have you.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, like you've mentioned, uh, Menopause Musical has been here a couple of times.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: It's been um a little bit, and I know that every time our audience just really enjoys it.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I do, I think there's a few tickets left.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: So we definitely want, you know, our if you haven't gotten the girls together to get tickets, they need to do that now.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: It is a super fun girls' night out.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's fun to bring your sister, your mom, even your husband, or your date.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: We do say men get a lot out of it too, because they say, Oh, now I get it.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they can um recognize.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: So if you haven't got your tickets yet, ticketmaster.com.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: Or you could go to the Metopause the Musical website, which is just menopausymusical.com, and it's uh October 29th at 7 p.m.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: One show only at your theater.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, thank you so much for joining us today, Stacey.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for having me.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's a pleasure.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: Before we go, on deck at the EPC is Trace Adkins on November 5th, How to Solve a Murder on November 6th, Mitchell Tenpenny on November 12th.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_01: For a full list of upcoming shows, visit our website at theepc.org.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: As always, you can purchase tickets through our box office Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_01: to 2 p.m.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: or on showdays from 10 a.m.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: to show time.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_01: You can also purchase tickets online through ticketmaster.com slash epc.