MID-LIFE doesn't have to be a crisis

If middle age means aches and pains, then "Mid-Life! The Crisis" director Michelle Barber hopes theater-goers will have sore funny bones this weekend.

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Barber, who will also act in the production Friday and Saturday at Breezy Point Resort, has been involved with this Chanhassen Dinner Theatres musical since it launched in early 2006.

She hasn't tired of its uplifting, humorous take on those dreaded mid-life crises.

"You know, my mid-life crisis was that I still think really young, but apparently I'm not getting cast young anymore," said Barber, 53, who has performed in several TV commercials in the role of a mother.

Actors Michelle Barber and Jay Albright perform the song "Turning 50" in "Mid-Life! The Crisis," which will be staged by Chanhassen Dinner Theatres Friday and Saturday at the Breezy Point Resort. The musical will also feature Angela Timberman and Scott Blackburn, with Richard Long accompanying on piano.

"They say, 'No, Michelle, we want you for the grandma, not the mom.' It's like, ouch! The good thing is when I teach the (Chanhassen) summer camp for kids, I tell them I'm 53, and they say, 'You are?' That's why I keep teaching."

"Mid-Life" was written by New York brothers Jim and Bob Walton and fleshed out by the Chanhassen cast and crew, including Barber. The original run lasted 18 months, and this weekend's performance in Breezy Point will set the stage for a tour this fall.

The musical's 15-plus songs hit on all aspects of growing older, for better or worse.

"We can kind of tell who wrote what," Barber said. "Jim is the higher art type of writer. Bob is like burlesque - he'd try everything and the kitchen sink. For some reason, those are the funniest songs. We talk about retiring, but the kids are still at home; divorced women whose husbands left them; Botox for men; turning 50 and joining AARP; turning 40 and turning into your dad, which is scary."

If you go

What: "Mid-Life! The Crisis" musical.

Staged by: Chanhassen Dinner Theatres.

When: 7 p.m. (dinner), 8 p.m. (show) Friday and Saturday. Silent auction at 6 p.m. Friday.

Where: Breezy Point Resort, 30375 Alpine Drive, Breezy Point.

Tickets: $75. Proceeds benefit the Central Lakes College Foundation.

Phone: (866) 687-4243.

Web site: www.ticketworks.com.

Barber acted in the first year of "Mid-Life" - she'll be joined by three other veterans this weekend - and she treasures the experience. The Waltons wrote one song specifically for Barber and husband Michael Brindisi, Chanhassen's resident artistic director.

"The song called 'When He Laughs' is about a husband changing, losing his hair, his teeth getting brown from coffee, gaining pounds around the middle. That one is close to my heart," Barber said. "It's one of the more quiet moments in the show. It's constantly funny and fast-paced, and in the middle is this ballad. People seem to like the song. It's reflective of a long relationship. You change physically, but you're still so happy and almost relieved that you still have this person."

It seems there's still plenty of life left in "Mid-Life! The Crisis." And the musical's ultimate message is that there's life after middle age.

"We still have so far to go," Barber said. "That's what we sing about at the end of the show - how you want to keep going and learn more. This is just a section of life. At the end, there's a song about turning 60 and it's a piece of cake."

Barber, who has acted with Chanhassen for 18 years, isn't thinking of retiring anytime soon.

"I really would like to continue acting and singing," she said. "I've been very lucky not to have been out of work for 27 years now. I really am loving this teaching stuff, so that's what I'm looking at as a second career. I like working with kids and adults, and it's really a great opportunity to give back."

JOHN HANSEN may be reached at john.hansen@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5863.