Chris Neuner was doing his manly duty in the collection room at New York University's infertility clinic when the light bulb went on. The high-tech babymaking that he and his wife, Amy, were enduring--the sperm specimens, the hormone shots, the egg harvesting--wasn't only agonizing, it was pretty darn funny. So when Amy finally got pregnant, Chris started crafting little ditties. Nine months later, Amy delivered twins, Garrick and Olivia, and Chris, a writer and composer, delivered a script: "Infertility: The Musical That's Hard to Conceive."
Almost three decades after the birth of the world's first test-tube baby, infertility is not only out of the closet, it's kicking up its heels off-Broadway. "You have to laugh because if you look too long at that petri dish you can convince yourself to get pretty upset." says Neuner, 35. At Dillon's Theatre in New York City, a straight couple, a lesbian couple, a single working gal and a fertility doc sing about ovulation, sex-by-day-planner and the sperm-donor "dating game." The show deals with patients' sadness and frustration but ends on a hopeful note: the sounds of a fetal heartbeat.
Not exactly the mass appeal of "The Lion King." But even if ticket sales lag, the musical, which debuted Nov. 4, has enough funding to run through the year-end thanks to sponsor Serono, a fertility-drug manufacturer.
"Infertility" isn't the first medical song and dance. One show recently featured cancer, and there's "Menopause the Musical," which has entertained gaggles of women since 2001 in cities nationwide. Humor is cathartic, says Dr. Jamie Grifo, the Neuners' reproductive endocrinologist. "It allows patients to laugh a little bit and get rid of some of their pain." High-tech medicine, low-tech prescription.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
