When the title (and poster) says it all….

There is, after all, sometimes not only truth in advertising, but also in a title – and occasionally, truth in both. Menopause – the Musical, that opened last night at the Shaw Theatre to continue its unstoppable international trajectory, is exactly what it says on the tin – and as a condition that affects at least half the world population at one point in their lives (and more particularly, a point at which they are free to buy theatre tickets), no wonder it has a nearly universal appeal.

But the title is not the only thing about the show that’s revealing about what’s inside the box – so does the indescribably awful cartoon being used for the poster image. On the tube ads, it is accompanied by a New York Times quote, “It’s impossible not to laugh”, to which should be added the words, “at this poster”.

Actually, all is not all truth with that particular piece of advertising – I looked up the original review in the New York Times in 2002, and its important to know the context within which critic Anita Gates makes that surprising declaration. In the preceding paragraph she had just written how, at times, “the rhymes are almost embarrassingly strained, as if the writer just didn’t feel like trying harder” and cites a couple of examples of Jeanie Linders’ work: “In Beauty’s Only Skin Deep, Ms. Linder writes, ‘’As you age, you question your life/And give it meaning that’s too full of strife.’ In ‘Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places,’ which becomes Looking for Food in Too Many Places,’ the singer bemoans her low appetite control with ‘Don’t know where it started or where it might end/I turn to a milkshake and call it friend.” And then, and only then, comes the declaration of the impossibility of laughing: “But sometimes the first line of a song fits the subject under discussion so perfectly that it’s impossible not to laugh. (The same phenomenon has been observed in audiences at Mamma Mia!, the Broadway musical built on Abba songs.)”

But if the title of Menopause – the Musical might give some men (and women) pause about whether they’d be interested in seeing it, another off-Broadway musical revue called Naked Boys Singing is enough to give you a hot flush. It, too, is exactly what it says: a bunch of men singing – and occasionally dancing (though not all body parts obey the choreography) while naked. The attraction, however, quickly palls, even for a paid-up member of the ogling club – though even I can succumb to a piece of stunt casting. When I was in New York earlier this year, I very nearly went to see it again because a gay porn star, Spencer Quest, had joined the cast – but he was out the weekend I was in.

But by the same token, I’ve studiously resisted another off-Broadway show called Altar Boyz thanks to its title. It’s not just the spelling of Boyz (which is also, coincidentally, the title of one of the free weekly “gaypers” in London) that offends, but also the title of the show that revolves around a bunch of choirboys turned boyband tells me what the show contains, too.

But if that title put me off, the stage version of Dirty Dancing that originated in Australia managed, on the strength of its name alone, to rack up the biggest advance in West End history ahead of its opening at Aldwych last year — and now shows every sign of repeating that success as it goes on its worldwide journey. When the box office opened for single ticket purchase in Toronto on Monday, it racked up an astonishing single day take of 1.8million Canadian dollars — nearly £800,000 — of which producer David Mirvish, who is bringing the show to the Royal Alexandra Theatre there, said, “This is by far the biggest sales day we’ve had”.