Hot Flashes and Sweaty Feet...Menopause is in Town!

The Colonial hosted four lovely ladies for two days last week when the tour of “Menopause the Musical®” sang and danced its way into the lives of so many wonderful Berkshire County citizens.

I was able to snag some time with Fredena Williams, Licia Watson, Pammie O’Bannon and Sandy DeWoody, and they told me about their touring schedule. This is a very busy troupe of actresses—they are typically on the road 325 days out of the year. When you think about how hard that would be, to live out of a suitcase almost every day, rarely staying more than a couple of days in one hotel – and sometimes back to back to back one-night gigs for weeks at a time – it really makes you wonder how they can be so darn cheerful…

…but they were delightful! They sincerely loved their stay in Pittsfield, and were most complimentary about everyone they met here. We did our best at the theater to be prepared and accommodating, and it really paid off. They gave our audience great shows on both nights, and left the audience wanting more.

As we were standing backstage before Wednesday night’s performance, we got chatting about the theater’s history. Whenever we do this it has a “magical” effect on performers. They love to hear about the theater’s early years—how it was saved by the Miller family, and how the community has embraced it so warmly since its reopening. They asked if I could stay around after the performance and give them a complete tour. So, after the crowds went home and they changed out of costumes and makeup we stepped off the stage and wound our way up to the Gallery level as I told them stories about the theater’s distant and recent past. We had a great time. They all laughed and loved running around in the deserted balcony and boxes. Fredena, Licia, Pammie and Sandy told me many things that night that we’ve heard before, but one never gets tired of hearing “This is by far the most beautiful and amazing theater in which we have performed.” “I could tell when I stepped out onto the stage that I’d like to come back and sing without a microphone to just enjoy the wonderful acoustics.” “Your entire staff has been amazing. They are so professional and are the friendliest folks we can remember meeting on this tour.” Afterwards, we snapped some photos, exchanged email addresses, and had our farewell hugs.

Pittsfield and The Colonial Theatre are getting a reputation in the entertainment industry, and it is a good one! This is a very gossipy business and word gets around fast about the “good ones” and the “ones to avoid.” One last thing, they could not stop talking about the friendliness of our audiences. Over the two nights all of you tossed a total of $1,780 into their buckets to raise money to build a house here in New England for a woman who has become homeless. All they said about that is “not many communities have been that generous.”

Shall we bring them back soon?