Please note: This article was written, and originally published, after seeing the show in 2023. Consider it reference as you plan to see it in 2024, Jan. 3 – 28, 2024 at the Garner Galleria Theatre in the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Learn more and buy tickets here.
One of our favorite theatrical shows is back and we’re laughing just as hard as we did the first two times we saw it! The Secret Comedy of Women is a celebration of all that it is to be female, the good and the bad, with only a touch of man-dissing. If you’re in need of some deep laughter, camaraderie, and a break, get tickets now!
The Secret Comedy of Women was created by fellow actors and friends, Barbara Gehring and Linda Klein, when they started reading their childhood diaries to each other. There’s nothing quite like getting a glimpse into who you were as a young person and teen to help you reflect on who you are now as an adult! In sharing, and laughing a ton, the friends realized that, if they were having this much fun looking back at their youth, other women probably would too. They were right! Despite having seen the show three times now, it’s just as fresh and hilarious and touching and insightful as it ever was. In part, that’s because Klein and Gehring are so genuine and are clearly having a great time with each other and the audience. It’s also because parts of the show are improvisational, playing off of props and people in the crowd.
The set is meant to look like a tween-age girl’s bedroom just like one Gehring and Klein say they’re sure they would have hung out in had they known each other as kids. Every time I’ve gone, I’ve overheard other women say they had a whatever-it-is just like that in their bedrooms. For me, it was the Shawn Cassidy poster. Google him.
Some of the standout moments for us from The Secret Comedy of Women:
The purse improv – Klein and Gehring go out into the audience and take two purses (with the owners’ permission) and then jump back on stage, pretending to be two old friends meeting for lunch. Using the purses themselves and real items within them (again, these are personal items from personal purses from real persons in the audience!), have a rapid-fire conversation based on what they find. It’s ridiculously creative and funny.
Craft Corner – The pair appear as perky old ladies demonstrating for our group what we can do, once menopause has hit, with all of those unused tampons and sanitary pads. Seriously. I mean, not seriously. From a Christmas ornament to new ways to clean your house to blocking out the sun on an airplane to a friggin’ brilliant way to keep wine fresh, between laughs you’ll be thinking “Hey, that’s not bad, actually!”
Hope chest treasures – Equipped with real items from their childhoods, the actors let members of the audience choose an item which Gehring and Klein then tell the story behind. The stories are funny, yes, but also quite moving at times. The sketch makes the audience feel even closer to the friends.
Panty Hose Ballet – These gals have it all – great balance, smooth moves, and the ability to pull on a pair of panty hose like no one has ever done before – all set to music. I just want to know what brand of panty hose they’re using that put up with all that abuse!
Can/should men go to The Secret Comedy of Women? One wouldn’t think, given the name but, yes, they can/should. I took my husband once and there were three, count ’em, three men in the audience the night I went recently. I think it’s good for them to go to gain some insight into women. Use it as a conversation-starter about your own childhoods!
Interestingly (to me, anyway), the show used to be called “Girls Only: The Secret Comedy of Women.” They’ve removed the “Girls Only” part which, I think, was really wise. It’s not just for women, really. And it’s not just about girlhood. Sure, our childhoods helped shape us but, as grown-ass women, we’re so much more interesting – worthy of an entire show to celebrate us! So, take the women in your life – family (including mothers and daughters), friends, and sweethearts and revel in the joy of it all.
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