Tiffanie Bridges

9/23/2005
Record-breaking run surpasses million-dollar mark!

By Nick Crews
nick.crews@indystar.com

September -- the onset of fall -- is National Menopause Awareness Month. So what better time for the Indianapolis production of "Menopause The Musical" to mark more milestones than, well, a woman who's moving into her own "autumn years"?

'Menopause the Musical'

• 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays; 5 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays / American Cabaret Theatre, 401 E. Michigan St.

• Tickets: $39.50

• Info: Call Ticketmaster at (317) 239-1000 or the box office at (317) 631-0334 or (800) 375-8887.

Menopause The Musical" in Indianapolis

Total performances: 214 shows.

Total box office receipts: $1,200,000.

Total show attendance: more than 40,000.

Number of other U.S. cities where 'Menopause' is playing: 14

Number of productions of running worldwide (including South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Australia and the Philippines): 19

Noteworthy: 'Menopause' is Indianapolis' first open-run theatrical production; the show has broken all local records for length of run.

Sing along with "Menopause The Musical"

"Change, Change, Change"
(Chorus, to the tune of "Chain of Fools")
Change, change, change
Change of life.
For five long years, I thought I'm losing my mind,
Now I found out, no, it's just part of the Change.
My body tried to warn me, the signs weren't too cool,
It's treatin' me mean, it's treatin' me cruel.

Since beginning its open run March 15, when snaking lines of middle-aged women descended on the American Cabaret Theatre, the popular musical celebration of women and "the change" has played to more than 40,000. This month the show broke all records for local theatrical runs by marking six months on the boards. It also recently hit $1 million in ticket sales.
And with producers now charting the show's future into next year, the end appears to be nowhere in sight.
The "Menopause" phenomenon is a first for Indianapolis, says Tim Roberts, whose Roberts Group produces the show with Winter Park, Fla.-based TOC Entertainment and Marketing.
"I've never seen anything like this here," said Roberts. "This type of thing has happened in Chicago, Boston and obviously in New York where shows become institutions. I think that what's happing with 'Menopause' in Indianapolis is a testimony to both the show and the marketplace. . .
"The show does have a history of long plays. Our hope was that Indianapolis would in some form or fashion tend to replicate what the show has experienced elsewhere. But we really didn't have any anticipation that we'd run for two or three years. In the long view, that would have been ambitious, but I don't know that it is anymore; it would not surprise me to see this show here in 2008."
"Menopause" tells the story of four women -- an aging soap opera star, a '60s hippie Earth mother, an executive and an Iowa housewife -- who meet at a lingerie sale at a New York department store only to learn their many differences are overshadowed by the thing they share: menopause.
The soul of the 90-minute show are the 26 parodies of '60s and '70s pop hits re-penned by show creator Jeanie Linders that celebrate the condition formerly known as "the silent passage," and laugh at its baggage of symptoms including hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings and memory loss.
The Beach Boys' "Help Me, Rhonda" becomes "Help Me, Doctor," "Chain of Fools" by Aretha Franklin lives again as "Change of Life." And a child-rearing classic is given new relevance for woman now past child bearing age, "Puff, My God, I'm Draggin'."
If nothing else, "Menopause" may have shown that the biggest change in area theater is hormone-driven.
"The show is just so relatable: to ladies who are going through the change, have gone through the change, who know someone who's going through the change, or the guy who's witnessed it and gone through it in his own way," said Roberts. "In a humorous way, the show puts a mirror up to (menopause). Jeanie (Linders) says it the best, 'The show's not about theater, it's about women.' I think that's it: it's such a humane and human show, it's funny and very accessible."
Roberts says that women who come to the show repeatedly -- and bring their friends -- have been key to the show's success.
"We have countless ladies that come time and time again, and continue to come. They bring one group of friends and that group has such a wonderful time that they bring another group; that's what's happening. . . . I would guess that we've put 20,000 people through the American Cabaret Theatre who've never been there before."
Tiffanie Bridges

"Power Woman"
"My husband is always telling me, 'You're making that Power Woman face,' " said Tiffanie Bridges, laughing. "And I say, 'I made these faces even before I started this play.' "
But after she began her role as the Power Woman, Bridges' friends also began seeing in her the role that has taken her from relati - Indianapolis Star Newspaper

10/27/2005
Mary Lou Szczesiul does a mean Janis Joplin, and she'll be showing her stuff in the "DIVAS!," American Cabaret Theatre's new cabaret musical. The show is a retrospective of stage, film and concert divas, and it debuts Oct. 29 and runs through Nov. 20.

Szczesiul has been with the theater for the past 15 years and has been performing for the past seven. Show Creator and ACT's Interim Artistic Director Jeff Owen said Szczesiul is famous for her Janis Joplin. She'll also be performing as Mae West and Marlene Dietrich in the production.

"We've got an eclectic group," he said of the divas to whom he chose to pay tribute. Marilyn Monroe, Billie Holiday, Judy Garland, Grace Slick, Peggy Lee, Gloria Swanson and Mariah Carey are among those honored.

According to Owen, the term diva originally meant goddess but has grown to indicate a combination of ego and talent. The list of divas, he said, is long.

"We had a list of about a hundred names we could choose from," he said. "Some people may argue with our choices, but we had to narrow it down to two hours. I also went with what fits our cast."

And speaking of cast, Szczesiul, Tiffanie Bridges, Karen Brown, Kelleen Strutz and Michael Taylor (performing in drag) get center stage.

"Michael adds a different element to the whole thing," Owen said. "He does Barbra Streisand and Bette Midler songs. He's the funniest guy I know."

The performers are not so much doing impersonations as they are paying homage to the divas featured in the show.

"Most of the time the performers don't look like them, but they do sound like them," Owen said. "I'm not worried about exact replicas but about capturing the essence of the person and the song."

Songs in the show also reflect the theme. "DIVAS!" starts with Helen Reddy's estrogen-powered anthem, "I Am Woman" and ends with "I'm Still Here" from Stephen Sondheim's "Follies."

"It's an ode to divas," Owen said. "They're still around, still appreciated, still in our hearts and minds."

-- Traci Cumbay

- INtake Weekly

Soul powerhouse Tiffanie Bridges, whose roles include Bessie Smith, "Big Mama" Thornton, Aretha Franklin and Tina Turner, shows what seven months performing as "Power Woman" in "Menopause The Musical" can do for honing one's stage presence.

Nick Crews - Indianapolis Star Newspaper

Outstanding were the performances by Tiffanie Bridges...in fact, every number Bridges sang was a highlight!

Lisa Gauthier - Nuvo