GIRLS NIGHT: THE MUSICAL

If you mix a slice of Desperate Housewives with Sex in the City and Mamma Mia and sprinkle in a litany of contemporary Pop Music, one can get a good sense of humor and energy that drives the 10th Anniversary Edition of GIRLS NIGHT: THE MUSICAL - a feel-good comedy about five girlfriends going from heartbreak to happiness during a wild night of karaoke, which will be playing at The Temple Theatre on Friday, November 10^th at 8:00 PM.

A touching and hilarious confessional musical that takes audiences on a journey into the lives of a group of female friends, Girls Night made its U.S. premier at the Scottsdale Center for The Performing Arts in May, 2007. Written by Louise Rocheand and directed by Sonya Flaherty, audience members quickly find themselves engaged as these five female friends visit their past, celebrate their present, and look to the future on wild and hilarious night out on the town that revisits some of the most popular songs of the ‘80s and ‘90s with energetic renditions of hits such as Lady Marmalade, We Are Family, I Will Survive and many more.

Featured in the cast are Leslie McQueen, Alexandra, Tripp, Sarah McShane, Alissa Salvatore and Katherine Cardin and the playwright, Louise Roche, has authored several plays and a successful novel, Glutton for Punishment, along with British television products Where The Heart Is and Doctors.

According to Tim Flaherty, President & CEO of Entertainment Events, Inc., which is presenting the production, when Girls Night: The Musical opened in May, 2007, it enjoyed a 3-week sold out engagement and then sold out for another 2-week stint.  “Milton Keene – a producer in the UK came across this production and I was the first producer to take Menopause: The Musical out on tour,” explains Flaherty. “I was looking for another show like that that had a title that tells you exactly who the audience is and appeal to the main demographic of musical theatre ticket buyers, which is women aged 40-plus.”

“I saw Girls Night on tour in the UK and thought it was super fun,” he continues. “It contains some great music such as Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and We Are Family, and the playwright, Louise Rocheand, did an excellent job formatting and weaving everything together. She’s a TV writer in the UK and the way she got the idea for Girls Night happened after she went to see a production of Boogie Nights and went to her husband and said, ‘I can do better than this and write something women will appreciate a lot more.  All of our actresses have top notch voices and the appeal of this production across the country has been consistent and evolving.”

When asked what the most challenging component is for Flaherty as the head of a contemporary theatrical production company, Flaherty explains how the biggest challenge is “finding material that will be received and supported and engaging to audiences.”

“I’m an old-school producer in the sense that I’m looking for plays that target certain audiences,” he continues. “I’m not looking to produce shows trying to cultivate an opinion, I’m just looking to deliver entertainment; and because of that, it’s a fairly narrow cue topically. I’m looking for crowd pleasing shows that audiences can relate to, and with GIrls Night: The Musical, this is a show where women can put a mirror on the stage and see themselves in the various characters.”

“This is a really fun show and we encourage women to come and get up and dance and sing any of the numbers that the girls in the cast are singing; and each of our actresses are very good at breaking down the wall between audience and actor,” he notes. “One of the cool things we do is with the song I Will Survive, because what we noticed ten years ago is that without fail whenever we do that particular song, someone in the audience would start crying, which posed a stark emotional turn.”

“This is because they were dealing with illness or cancer, so the song took on a new meaning for them. Now, before we sing it at the encore, we ask if there are any cancer survivors in the audience so they can come up and join us and sing that song with the cast.  It’s very emotional and poignant and everyone loves it.”

Girls Night: The Musical plays at The Temple Theatre, 201 N. Washington in Saginaw on Friday, November 10^th at 8 pm. Tickets are $27, $32, $41, and $51 and available by going to templetheatre,org or phoning the box office at 877-754-SHOW.