The World’s First HOT FLASH Mob Kickline Takes Over Times Square for World Menopause Day and celebrates 25 years of Menopause The Musical® on October 19, 2026

NEW YORK – Oct. 19, 2026: MENOPAUSE THE MUSICAL® turned Times Square pink on Sunday, October 18, as over 50 women linked arms for the World’s First HOT FLASH Mob Kickline in honor of World Menopause Day and the production’s 25th anniversary. At the free event in Broadway Plaza between 45th and 46th Streets, women at every stage of “The Change” kicked high and cheered alongside leading menopause doctors Dr. Mary Claire Haver and Dr. Corinne Menn, advocates, and women's health coach Guiding Light's Beth Chamberlin, saying the word “menopause” out loud at the Crossroads of the World.

“Twenty-five years ago, women whispered the word menopause. Today they wore pink and shouted it in the middle of Times Square,” said director and producer Seth Greenleaf. “Jeanie Linders would have been at the front of that line, if sher were still with us.”

“I’ve done this kickline on stages around the world, but never with Times Square behind me,” said original cast member Nancy Slusser. “Every woman who jumped in today got a taste of what our audiences feel at the end of every show, such joy and spirit in this special sisterhood.”

Professionally filmed footage (courtesy of Slated) and event photography (by Shawn Salley Photography) are available here.

MENOPAUSE THE MUSICAL® cast members Nancy Slusser and Adrianne Hick are available for interviews. Slusser appeared in the original Off-Broadway production of MENOPAUSE THE MUSICAL® 23 years ago and is the production’s longest-running cast member. She has played every role in the show on tour, as well as Iowa Housewife in its sequel, MENOPAUSE THE MUSICAL 2: CRUISING THROUGH ‘THE CHANGE’®.

MENOPAUSE THE MUSICAL® will make a donation to its national charitable partner, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), for each kickline participant at its World Menopause Day event, reinforcing their shared commitment to women’s health.

Leading voices in menopause care and advocacy turned out for the kickline, including OB-GYNs and menopause experts Dr. Mary Claire Haver, a No. 1 New York Times bestselling author, and Dr. Corinne Menn, a menopause specialist and breast cancer survivor; Guiding Light star Beth Chamberlin; Tracy Milgram, founder of breast and gynecologic cancer nonprofit BRCAStrong; Dr. Heidi Snyder Flagg, a New York City OB-GYN and menopause specialist; Lori Schulweis and Jenn Giamo, co-hosts of the women’s wellness podcast Every. Body. Talks.; Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, an attorney, author, and nationally recognized advocate for menstrual equity and menopause policy; Monique Cupid and Dixie Lincoln-Nichols of the Life in the Pause Festival; Lisa McDonald, director of policy and advocacy at The Pause Life; and Christine Ward, director of community fundraising at BCRF.

MENOPAUSE THE MUSICAL® cast members, and native New Yorkers Nancy Slusser and Adrianne Hick led the celebration’s kickline. Times Square Alliance supported the event, and KEVANI donated a Times Square billboard. The open-invitation kickline ended the way the show does night after night, with strangers linking arms and kicking as one.

The show was ahead of its time; not until 2009, eight years after the show opened, did the International Menopause Society (IMS) and the World Health Organization (WHO) establish World Menopause Day. The organizations designated Oct. 18 as World Menopause Day and October as World Menopause Awareness Month.

Inspired by a hot flash and a bottle of wine, playwright Jeanie Linders created MENOPAUSE THE MUSICAL^® to celebrate women at every stage of "The Change." In March 2001, the first show premiered in a small 76-seat theater where the audience finally felt seen, and menopause no longer had to be “The Silent Passage.”

“Women need this!” raved NBC’s Today Show, while Joy Behar of The View gushed, “You’ll love it. It’s hilarious. Go see it.”

MENOPAUSE THE MUSICAL^® didn’t just open a show; it ignited a cultural revolution. What began with 76 women in an Orlando perfume shop turned theater laughing, kicklining, and celebrating menopause for the first time became a global movement. With audiences of over 17 million women worldwide embracing “The Change,” the musical shattered the stigma around menopause and turned a once-taboo topic into a badge of honor. Now celebrating 25 years of female empowerment through hilarious musical comedy, MENOPAUSE THE MUSICAL^® has evolved as a grassroots movement of women who deal with life adjustments around 40 by embracing each other and the road ahead.

On World Menopause Day, MENOPAUSE THE MUSICAL® brought the sisterhood to the busiest square in America, and no woman in that line had to face “The Change” alone. It continues its 25th Anniversary North American Tour, with upcoming stops in Schenectady, N.Y. (Nov. 12-15), Englewood, N.J. (Nov. 18-19), and New Brunswick, N.J. (Feb. 27). Tickets are available at MenopauseTheMusical.com.

ABOUT MENOPAUSE THE MUSICAL®
​COME JOIN OUR SISTERHOOD! Set in a department store, four women meet while shopping for a black lace bra at a lingerie sale. After noticing similarities, the cast jokes about their woeful hot flashes, mood swings, wrinkles, weight gain, and more. These women form a sisterhood and a unique bond with the audience as they celebrate that menopause is no longer “The Silent Passage.” It's the Hilarious Celebration of Women and The Change!®

Jeanie Linders wrote the production’s Book and lyrics. The creative team includes Director Seth Greenleaf, Music Supervisor and Additional Arrangements Alan J. Plado, Assistant Director Kim Simari, Choreography Supervisor Teri Adams, and Assistant Music Supervisor Roberta B. Wall. Columbia Artist Theatricals represents the production.

The original MENOPAUSE THE MUSICAL^® by Jeanie Linders debuted in Orlando, Florida, and ran Off-Broadway for four years, performing for more than 1,500 audiences, followed by a U.S. national tour that is still running today. In 2007, it opened internationally in the United Kingdom and has performed in Australia, South Korea, Brazil, France, Slovenia, and many other countries. It was also the longest-running musical in Las Vegas history. Beloved for 25 years and seen by more than 17 million, MENOPAUSE THE MUSICAL^® has played every state in the continental U.S., more than 500 cities worldwide, and has been translated into nine languages.

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