Actress Kathy St. George listens carefully when she is directed by Casey and Nicki Simon. The girls, 14 and 12, respectively, are at Marshalls in Stoneham to "funk up" their aunt Kat Kat. St. George, who is from Stoneham, has a couple of hours to shop before her matinee of "Adrift in Macao" at the Lyric Stage Company, and she's already thinking about the glittery top she'll need for her next show, "Menopause: The Musical," at the Stuart Street Playhouse. (St. George earlier this month joined the cast of the all-women show about ladies near, at, or beyond "the change.")
But first things first. Today's all-female cast at Marshalls: Casey and her sister Nicki, who live in Lakeville; their mother, Patti St. George Simon, and her older sister, Kathy, who is "somewhere in between 40 and death" (lyrics from "Mame"); mother and grandmother Terry St. George, who also lives in Stoneham; and Roxie the Shih Tzu, who peeks out of Casey's tote bag.
"Where are the petites? Where are my fashion advisers?" asks the almost 5-foot-tall, size 2 petite Kathy, who is determined to find dark jeans. First she has to find her nieces, who are off worshipping Roxy bathing suits. "I think we're shopping for me," says aunt Kat Kat. She also wants a pair of pointed-toe boots, "even though they're gonna kill my feet."
There's no shortage of fashion advice from the group. Casey tells her aunt she has too much black; Nicki says a pair of brown plaid pants on the rack are just "OK"; Terry doesn't like the ripped jeans Kathy picks out; Patti tells the girls they have no more money to shop. Roxie, who is in the carriage with the coats, has no comment.
The entourage gives up on jeans and moves on to boots. St. George spots brown suede ones with a heel - hello 5 feet - and she tries them out, walking over to the jeans rack and then to the purse display. "I feel kind of sassy in these," she says. Terry points out that when you get older, you can't wear heels; Patti wants to go for coffee. Once again, no comment from Roxie.
The boots feel good, Kathy says, though they don't have a pointed toe, and she puts them in the cart. Then the pack turns their attention to tops. Casey and Nicki find a brown hooded sweater for their aunt, and Terry asks the price. "I don't look at price. I'm an actress," Kathy says, and everybody laughs. Patti asks "Kathleen" about washing instructions; Roxie puts her chin on the carriage handle.
St. George wasn't exposed to theater growing up in Stoneham. It was at Salem State College that she answered an ad for a piano player for the musical "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown." She went on to teach second grade in Stoneham and get involved in community theater, eventually working her way up to "Fiddler on the Roof" on Broadway. She returned to Boston in 1991, and she's worked steadily as an actress ever since.
Kathy and her mother reminisce about their brush with Hollywood a few years ago, when both were extras in "Mona Lisa Smile." Terry says she saw her daughter's face in the film for two seconds - before the camera panned back to Kevin Costner, Kathy adds.
Like any good director, Nicki brings the group back to shopping.
In "Menopause: The Musical," St. George plays Soap Star, the same role she played when the show opened here in 2004 and played for almost two years. The sequins are falling off the top she wore in the finale, so the actress needs a replacement. Nicki holds up an ugly blue number. "You're kidding, right?" asks Kit Kat. She is. And they don't find a top.
A woman approaches the actress: "You look so familiar. Were you onstage?" When she learns the answer is yes, she immediately asks, "Menopause"? The fan, Dolly Marino of Revere wants to know what Kathy's been doing since, and the actress recites a list that includes her 2007 one-woman show, "And Now, Ladies and Gentlemen, Miss Judy Garland" at the Lyric Stage Company. This prompts a request from the entourage, and Kathy sings a few bars of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," complete with Garland-like hand gestures.
Kathy asks Marino if she's a plant, then asks her mother if she planned it.
A few minutes later, Roxie throws up in the cart - maybe the pooch is jealous of the attention the actress is getting - and Kathy assesses the situation: "I hope she didn't throw on my new shoes."
"Menopause: The Musical" is at the Stuart Street Playhouse for a limited engagement (200 Stuart St., Boston. Tickets are $45. 800-447-7400. telecharge.com. St. George's website is kathystgeorge.com (no periods, she's in "Menopause")
June Wulff can be reached at jwulff@globe.com.
