Singing praises of older women

The show will appeal to more than just women in the Red Hat Society.
By TARA BURGHART
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHICAGO -- Before the curtain rises, the announcer asks the audience to turn off their cell phones, reminds them photography is not permitted, and requests that anyone wearing a red hat to remove it.
Dozens of women comply, lifting straw and felt hats covered in flowers, feathers and ribbons off their heads and gently placing them in their laps.
All were attending the Chicago premiere of "Hats!" a musical inspired by the Red Hat Society, which bills itself as a "social organization where there is fun after 50." Its members cause quite a stir on their outings in bright purple and red outfits.
Following productions in New Orleans and Denver, the musical is playing through June 10 at Chicago's Royal George Theatre, starring singer Melissa Manchester as MaryAnne, a woman not at all happy about her approaching 50th birthday.
"I don't want to see my mother when I see my own face," she sings in the show's second number. "... I don't want to lose my mind, don't care to lose my hearing, not too keen on going blind. I don't want bunions as big as my feet, or varicose veins as long as my street."
But her attitude gradually changes as she listens to her mother and five friends tell the stories of their lives, in songs such as "The Older the Fiddle, the Sweeter the Tune" and "My Oven's Still Hot."
Mixed reviews
Reviews in Chicago have been mixed.
The Chicago Sun-Times accused the production, along with shows like "Menopause, the Musical" of being part of a "discouraging trend that might be labeled 'demographically inspired theater.'" Yet the Chicago Tribune called it a "chipper, polished, chin-up, 90-minute show" and said many of the songs are "melodic, insightful and easy on the ear."
Producer Mitchell Maxwell admits that when he first got the idea, he was enamored with the idea of a built-in audience. The Red Hat Society claims to have nearly 40,000 chapters in all 50 states and 30 foreign countries.
But as he began to develop the musical, Maxwell said he realized it had a "sentiment that was really valuable."
"It's not just about women," he said. "It's about aging in our society, and things we all have to deal with, whether it's the loss of a spouse, or your empty house, or losing your husband to a younger woman, or just sort of figuring out how to stay visible."
It really sank in, he said, when he was out to lunch with his 80-year-old mother. The waiter asked Maxwell what his mother wanted to order.
"I said, 'Ask her. She's not invisible."'
The experience inspired the song "Invisible," with music and lyrics by Manchester and her collaborator Sharon Vaughn.
Helped out
Among the nearly 20 other songwriters to contribute material are country singer Pam Tillis, entertainer Kathie Lee Gifford and Henry Krieger, who wrote the music for Broadway's "Dreamgirls."
Manchester is most famous for her pop hits of the 1970s and 1980s, including "You Should Hear How She Talks About You" and "Through the Eyes of Love."
She's done theater work as well, touring in Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Music of the Night," but kept her responsibilities light while her children were young.
Her children are now in college, and so when the show's creators approached her about starring in the Chicago production, Manchester considered it "a real gift."
Manchester, 56, hopes shows like "Hats!" and the Red Hat Society remind the entertainment industry of the power of the over-50 crowd. She gets especially frustrated with the music industry, she said.
"At some point, you join the fights that are worth joining. And it's not that I'm anti-youth at all. But I have no interest in competing with a 24-year-old," she said. "But to relish the company of fabulous women and evolved men is as good as it gets."
Producers expect to mount "Hats!" before the end of the year in Las Vegas; Branson, Mo.; and Austin, Texas. Australia and London productions are also in the works, Maxwell said, and the Red Hat Society convention in Nashville got a special performance in late April.
Founder of the group
Society founder Sue Ellen Cooper (she prefers Exalted Queen Mother for a title) said she has been approached in the past about a movie.
Cooper turned the idea down because she said she feared the producers didn't value the society's spirit.
She feels the creators of the musical did find the right tone. But Cooper, who had final approval over "Hats!" admits she returned some material for reworking.
"I don't like us being portrayed as biddies," she said.
In 1997, Cooper bought a friend about to turn 55 a red hat, along with a framed copy of the poem "Warning" by Jenny Joseph. It begins: "When I am an old woman I shall wear purple/With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me."
The friend loved the gift, and so Cooper gave more to girlfriends. Eventually the group's outings got national press, and Cooper found women across the country turning to her for advice on forming their own group. Now, Cooper has 32 full-time employees at the Fullerton, Calif.-based company.
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