BWW Reviews: MID-LIFE 2! Teases Midlife Crisis at Dutch Apple

A central Pennsylvania dinner theatre doesn't seem like the obvious location for a national premiere of a new musical by a pair of known Off-Broadway writers, but Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre has surprised before and is in a location to surprise again. Brother team of Bob Walton and Jim Walton, who also directed and choreographed, have staged the premiere of MIDLIFE 2! (THE CRISIS CONTINUES) at Dutch Apple, where it will garner applause from everyone who's loved MENOPAUSE: THE MUSICAL, CHURCH BASEMENT LADIES, and similarly themed shows - and will also, no doubt, be more popular with the men from those audiences who have been dragged to them by the women in their lives, since MIDLIFE 2! features a co-ed cast and mixed-gender problems.

That's no insult to this show. It's one of a very definite genre, and much about success of shows in this genre depends on the cast. Here, a solid cast of real mid-life actors of pleasantly varying and realistic sizes and shapes, three men and three women (and two swings, also featured prominently in the billing) take few if any prisoners in their quest to describe the joys and perils of middle age. Director Jim Walton acknowledges that the show was written with that in mind - their actor friends, like the Waltons, having reached middle age, were looking for shows that wanted middle aged, real-people cast members, and the writing team decided to oblige them, now for a second time.

The show is a set of musical skits, eleven in the first act, ten in the second, with no connecting theme other than that of the encroachments of middle age. Most are humorous, in a relatively gentle vein - the second scene, "The Other Woman," reveals the husband's "affair" to be his passion for Mrs. Fields cookies from the mall. "Weekend Warriors??" turns out to be the tale of a men's zumba dance competition at the local Applebee's on a Saturday night, which also raises the dilemma, at least to the listener, of whether disco is in fact dead.

Two of the best and most relatable scenes are in the second act. "Mid-Life Goes On and On" features the song many audience members, including this reviewer, will wish they had known for many years, "Where'd I Put My Glasses?" "To Do List" features the song "A Senior Discount," on the question of whether to be appalled that you've been asked if you want the discount, or if you should grin and take it. The show also features a to-be-expected high school reunion scene that is perhaps a bit more grim than one might like - there's little in the way of happy comparison to how the senior champions of their year turned out, and what feels like a great deal of worrying if one wore the right thing. HIGH SCHOOL REUNION: THE MUSICAL by Billy Van Zandt has nailed the theme and perhaps it's best left to Van Zandt at this point.

Other sketches deal with doctors, Viagra, purchasing condoms and the trials, for older adults, of wading through the new varieties that have been developed since they were teens, home problems, moving away, the joys of being a grandmother, and special issues such as selective deafness.

It's a sweet, slight musical with some inventive (though few extraordinary) songs, good though non-controversial humor, and a general, gentle reassurance to the audience that whatever they're experiencing during middle age is probably perfectly normal. There's little to nothing that could be even mildly edgy, and the raciness is at the general level of "naughty" - male patients enjoying getting Viagra prescriptions from an attractive female doctor is about as eyebrow-raising as it gets. It's almost timid, as if the show is going out of its way not to offend. There's no great moral, either. But it's entertaining and certainly pleasant, even if at times it feels like a 1970s television variety show starring a slowed-down cast, as much Andy Williams as Sonny and Cher, and certainly without Dean Martin's nod-and-wink ribaldry. There's also just a dash of what seems to be some rather stolid gender stereotyping as the basis of much of the humor, but that's par for the course for the whole middle-age revue genre. Perhaps the age group locks itself into that stereotyping, deliberately or not, and it's stereotyping that serves as the unstated basis of most group-based humor.

The current cast at Dutch Apple is entirely stage veterans, all with Dutch Apple resumes - most were recently involved in the Christmastime staging of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. The unnamed characters are played by Luther Chakurian, Lisa Coday, Dianne Stone Fussaro, Jennifer Hope, Kirk Lawrence and Christopher Tefft, with Amy Shea and Jim Johnson as the swings. Fussaro, in particular, stands out, especially in "Nana," her song about the wonders of being a grandparent.

A nice touch in this show is that, as with HIGH SCHOOL REUNION, the songs are entirely original, neither spoofs of immediately recognizable popular songs nor oldies inserted in a plot to lock it into a time period. The Waltons are capable tunesmiths as well as lyricists, and while there's no particular song you may leave humming, there are no identifiable false notes either. The music works, and JP Meyer and the pit band do a fine job delivering the tunes, just as the cast does.

MID-LIFE 2! may not be quite ready for prime time (or, more likely, Off-Broadway), but it's worth a look. If, like this author, you can remember where you put your glasses. They were right here a minute ago...

At Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre through February 14. Call 717-898-1900 or visit dutchapple.com for tickets and information.

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