'Mid-Life! The Crisis Musical' good for a few laughs

You would have been hard-pressed to find an audience member under 35 at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre opening of "Mid-Life! The Crisis Musical."

Hard-pressed but unsurprised, considering those in their 20s and 30s don't share the same concerns as the show's target audience.

Yet.

Soon enough Generations X and Y will confront the assorted indignities and maladies experienced by aging Baby Boomers and chronicled by writer/composers Bob and Jim Walton in this breezy examination of middle age. Once those younger generations begin grappling with love-handles, acid reflux and varicose veins - once they start fixating on the History Channel and blubbering during Hallmark commercials - "Mid-Life" will resonate with them too.

Comprised of bouncy, pop-infused songs and middling humor that occasionally borders on droll, "Mid-Life" is a pleasantly innocuous show. It makes few demands. It supplies some laughs. And that's enough.

Highlights include a delightfully comic homage to forgetfulness titled "What Did I Come in Here For?"; a soft-shoe salute to AARP; a silly, singing mammogram with Busby Berkeley aspirations and an empowering tune called "I Quit" which finds overwhelmed spouses renouncing car-pool duty, housecleaning and heterosexuality among other things.

In a show dominated by up-tempo tunes, a pair of ballads stand out. Kate Brown's nicely understated performance of "When He Laughs," in which LASIK surgery opens a wife's eyes to the perfect imperfections of her husband, earns kudos. So does "The Long Goodbye," a poignant musing on the devastating effect of Alzheimer's disease, affectingly performed by Kate Brown, Dennis Brown and Katie Miller, who possesses a grand voice as well as comic flair.

Director Robin M. Hughes keeps the show moving. And for the most part, her able sextet of singer-actors manages to keep up, although scaling the massive stairs that comprise Michael Gehmlich and Adam L. Veness' bold, functional set appeared to leave some cast members winded.

But, like their audience, they soldier on.

There's a quote attributed to Bette Davis that goes "old age is no place for sissies." That's true. It's also true that people have to be able to laugh at themselves.

"Mid-Life" gives them the opportunity.

"Mid-Life! The Crisis Musical" Rating: #9733; #9733; Location: Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights, (847) 577-2121 or metropolisarts.comShowtimes: 3 p.m. Sunday, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 7 p.m. Saturday, through June 19. Also 2 p.m. May 26. Running time: About two hours with intermissionTickets: $27-$43 Parking: Street parking nearbyRating: For adults, strong language and mature contentFalse20001333David Elliott and Kate Brown play parents eager for their underperforming son (Dennis Brown, upper right) to leave the nest in Metropolis Performing Arts Centre's "Mid-Life! The Crisis Musical." False