Mad old hatters

At first glance, HATS! A New Musical For the Rest of Your Life might not seem like it has much to offer college students. The show deals with a woman on the eve of her 50th birthday who is having self-professed “issues” about her age.

After her mother and her mother’s friends surprise her with an unwelcome party, Maryanne (Adair Chappell) nearly breaks down in a musical number that includes laments about hot flashes, her sexual frustration and varicose veins. Soon, though, Maryanne learns that 50 is “the youth of old age” and, by the end of the production, has somewhat grudgingly embraced her age, with the help of a lot of singing and dancing.

HATS! is the official musical of the Red Hat Society, a social club of women who drink tea while wearing purple outfits and red hats. The group takes its name from Jenny Joseph’s poem “Warning,” which is a literal warning about the things the narrator intends to do when she is an old woman (these things include wearing purple with a clashing red hat). The club is intended to foster friendship between women as they travel through life. Many audience members were older women who were dressed accordingly and many performances have sold out—a testament to the club’s wide appeal.

But this musical has something for all ages, especially for women of all ages. First, it’s truly funny. The script is bawdy and graphic, the songs are a pleasure to hear and, at one point, a character distributes thongs to audience members. Second, for a musical this entertaining, HATS! packs a pretty intense emotional punch. Song topics include empty nest syndrome, being left by one’s husband and having a loved one suddenly die.

Besides pure entertainment value, this ability to tackle grave subjects is the show’s greatest strength. The advanced age of the show’s characters gives the script a huge amount of potential. These seven women have lived long and full lives and that means that they can explore an infinite number of ways being 50 can look. Some still have children at home, some are femme fatales and some are high-strung career women.

For a young person, this makes HATS! especially valuable. It invites the audience to celebrate individuality and listen to other people’s stories. In a youth-obsessed media culture, the stories of women over 50 simply aren’t told.

HATS! is a wake-up call to pay attention to the people around you, a tongue-in-cheek reminder that we’re all going to die and a rousing vision of feminism. That’s a lot for an 80-minute show.