As playwright Robert Anderson once put it about writing for the theater, “You cannot make a living, but you can make a killing.” It seems unlikely that he ever met Jeanie Linders, who penned the international phenomenon Menopause the Musical, but he inadvertently described her mega-success with the “girls-night-out” revue about the female life passage of middle age.
The show, which began 12 years ago in Orlando, has now been seen by an estimated 11 million theatergoers — overwhelmingly women — in 15 countries and 750 cities around the world. Now, attempting to prove that she is not just some hot flash in the pan, Linders has written a new show that opens today at the Kravis Center’s Rinker Playhouse in West Palm Beach.
Called The D Word — A Musical, the D refers to “ditched, dumped, divorced and dating.” Like Menopause, the show features four women who sing their way through the ups and downs of relationships. But while she is unlikely to be heeded, Linders pleads with prospective theatergoers “don’t expect ‘Menopause,’ because this one has a totally different kind of vibe.”
Still, in the few cities where The D Word has already played, presenters make a point of emphasizing its link to Menopause. Then again, many shows have claimed a kinship to the earlier blockbuster, no matter how tangential.
“’Menopause’ started a lot of knock-offs,” Linders said. “The audience doesn’t know whether it comes from the creator or the producer. They don’t know the difference.
“A lot of people have spent money on a lot of tickets because they thought it was a show that I wrote and then they found out it wasn’t. Those shows never had the staying power or success that ‘Menopause’ did. Literally, this is the first show that’s come out of my brain and my company since ‘Menopause.’”
For her follow-up show, Linders followed the classic advice to “write what you know.”
“I’ve been there for all of those Ds: ditched, dumped, divorced and dating,’ she says. Not that writing the show brought out any bitterness. “The truth of the matter is it was a fun thing to do.”
Sure, she has made enough money that she did not need to ever create another show, but she felt she had something that other women would again connect and identify with. “Why would I write another show after the success of ‘Menopause’? Because that’s what a writer does.”
Instead of the parody lyrics that fueled Menopause the Musical, The cast of The D Word sings actual pop songs like I Will Survive, Hot Stuff, Turn Me On and Before He Cheats. “We use the original music that we all listened to when we broke up or we thought we were dating somebody or whatever,” explains Linders. “These are the love songs of our lives.”
Linders concedes that she was a novice when she wrote Menopause. “You’ve got to remember, I had no background in theater whatsoever when I did ‘Menopause.’ You could say it was ‘Menopause the Opera,’ because there wasn’t a book there. There were a few words that led you to the next song to the next song to the next song.
“With ‘The D Word,’ there’s a book, there’s a story line, there’s four characters that actually have a back story. Truthfully, between you, me and the pen, of the four girls on the stage, I’ve lived through three of them. So I know exactly what they’re going through.”
Linders’ strength is relating to women like herself. “I am very good at writing target market shows. Shows that are me talking to my girlfriends, that’s basically what they are,” she says. Still, “ ‘Menopause’ was trashed by critics worldwide because there was no book, because of all that other stuff. But the audience got ‘Menopause,’ that’s why it was so successful.”
Menopause continues to pop up locally. On Nov. 1 and 2, the national tour makes a stop in Fort Piece for two shows at the Sunrise Theatre.
The D Word is aimed at a younger demographic than Menopause the Musical was. “Usually the mothers dragged their daughters with them” to Menopause. “Now they’re coming on their own and it’s a party show. They can sing along and there’s fun journeys for everybody. It’s a lot easier to make them sing along to this one. We don’t make them come onstage and sing along, because they’re already singing along in the audience.”
The D Word launched earlier this year in Orlando, then transferred to Las Vegas for national exposure, called “branding.”
“I wasn’t going there to have longevity,” says Linders. “But if you’re able to go to Vegas and stay open for a while and get decent reviews, it’s almost like New York — ‘If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.’ ”
And Linders expects to take The D Word wherever Menopause has played, a natural built-in audience. She even thinks men might enjoy it.
“It’s kind of like with ‘Menopause’ — you drag the men in there and they have a great time. The trick is dragging them in.” If you had to choose who to bring with you, though, Linders suggests your gal pals. “It’s fun when you bring your husband, but it’s more fun when you bring your girlfriends.”
Just remember one thing, she says.
“This isn’t ‘Menopause the Musical,’ although I think that’s what everybody wants from me,” sighs Linders. “It’s not going to change the world, but it’s a good night out. It’s fun, you laugh, you cry, you sing along. It’s a night of entertainment and what is good theater but a night of entertainment?”
THE D WORD, Kravis Center Rinker Playhouse, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach. Oct. 20-Nov. 10. Tickets: $39-$64. Call: (561) 832-7469 or visit www.kravis.org.
MENOPAUSE THE MUSICAL, Sunrise Theatre, Fort Pierce. Nov. 1-2. Tickets: $40-$50. Call 772-461-4775 or visit www.sunrisetheatre.com.