Press Release - “Cougar the Musical” at Cotuit Center for the Arts

“Cougar the Musical” at Cotuit Center for the Arts

“Cougar: The Musical,” by Donna Moore, opens June 7 at Cotuit Center for the Arts and runs through June 24. Performances are Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 PM and Sunday at 4 PM. The show is directed by Melinda Gallant with music direction by Glenn Starner-Tate and choreography by Pamela Wills.

Hilarious, soulful, and heartwarming, “Cougar the Musical” is a story of love—at any age. “Love is love,” said Gallant. “Love is ageless and the show is a tribute to love, friendship, trust, and getting older. It gives new meaning to the image of a cougar as a predator. But the best thing about ‘Cougar’ is that it is hysterically funny. It’s like Lucy and Ethel meet Bette Midler. Crazy funny!”

Three divine, but disillusioned over-40 women, all in different stages of life, develop a taste for hot, young men (all colorfully played by 22-year-old Ben Gutman). They let their inner cougar roar and purr, finding self-love and empowerment in the process, as they sing and dance through a lively array of original songs, from grinding blues to doo-wop, to pop, to “Julio,” a romantic ballad sung to a vibrator.

Mary-Marie (Bonnie Fairbanks) is an oversexed Southern Belle, who, after the death of her wealthy, but not very romantically satisfying husband, moves to New York City, where she opens a cougar bar called the Elder Grill and Younger Boys Lounge. She is eager to experience the love life she has been missing.

Lily (Diane Brunt) is a twice-divorced children’s birthday party entertainer and mother who really wants to be an actress, something both husbands were opposed to.

Clarity (Ruthe Lew) has worked in the financial industry for years, doing all of the grunt work for the men. She’s been married and divorced and is very happy being alone, insisting that nobody needs a man. She decides to go back to school and get a PhD in women’s studies. Her thesis is on cougars.

The show has been called “a fun, fast-paced, intelligent, sexy show” and “funny, raucous, sweetly sentimental and romantic.”

“Cougar the Musical” debuted Off-Broadway in 2012. Playwright Moore was insulted when she first heard the term at a party years earlier, but proceeded to build a comedy act around the concept. “I wanted to humanize the cougar and use it as a means to talk about life and getting older, how we have to reach into our indomitable spirit to overcome obstacles and to keep moving,” she has said.

Tickets are $20, $15 for members. Cotuit Center for the Arts is at 4404 Route 28, in Cotuit. For more information, visit artsonthecape.org, or call 508-428-0669.

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What:

“Cougar: The Musical”

Where:

Cotuit Center for the Arts, 4404 Route 28, Cotuit

When:

June 7 to 24: Thursday through Saturday, 7:30 PM; Sunday, 4 PM

Admission:

$20, $15 for members