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“Menopause: The Musical” is a show by and about women of a certain age (and for the men who love them).

The gist of it is this: Four women of varied backgrounds meet over a lingerie sale table at Bloomingdale’s department store, and in their struggle over underwear come to find out that they all have something in common: Menopause.

“They can see it in each other’s faces,” said Cynthia Jones, who plays Power Woman.

“They are all coming to terms with big changes in their lives, coping with their mothers and their families and finding their strengths as women,” said Katie Anne Harper, who plays Iowa Housewife.

They share their ups and downs through a collection  baby boomer songs from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s, but with new lyrics to match their time of life.  Disco hit “Stayin’ Alive” becomes “Stayin’ Awake.” Motown favorite “My Girl” is transformed into “My Thighs.” “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” switches to “In the Guest Room or on the Sofa, My Husband Sleeps at Night,” and “Puff The Magic Dragon” becomes the anthem to exercise, “Puff, My God I’m Draggin’.”

“It’s a wonderful vehicle to laugh at mood swings and everything else that comes with the change,” said Harper, who has not yet actually reached that point in her life yet. “The show turns this passage into a musical to make it more palatable and understandable. Now I know what to look for.”

“It strikes at the truth in fun way,” Jones said. “I see it in the faces of the women in the audience every night. They know ‘It’s not just me.’ We don’t realize that it’s all a part of our natural process and our life’s journey. I know when I first saw it, I cried.”

Both Jones and Harper said that the characters are both realistically presented and broadly drawn so that women will recognize themselves in all of them.

In addition to the Oprah-esque Power Woman and the naive Iowa Housewife, there’s Aging Soap Star who’s lost her job as the eternal ingenue on “One Life to Lose” and Hippie Earth Mother who is dealing with her changes in a naturalistic way through yoga and herbs.  

• WHAT: “Menopause: The Musical” by Jeanie Linders
• WHERE: Taft Theatre, 317 E. Fifth St., Cincinnati
• WHEN: Jan. 30-Feb.
• COST: $44.50
• MORE INFO: (513) 562-4949; www.ticketmaster.com