SHAWNEE, Kan. — Johnson County’s “Theatre in the Park” features the Midwest premiere of “Halftime – Gotta Dance,” a new musical featuring dancers age 60 and up this weekend.

Opening night was Friday and the hilarious show follows a group of middle-aged women who audition for an advanced dance team to perform at a professional basketball team’s halftime show.

In real life, the actors had to learn hip-hop! For most, that comes pretty late in their stage careers and presented a true challenge.

“We think in our brains we look amazing and wonderful and that’s okay. The audience may have a different perception, but we’re killing it! We are killing it! I think we’re killing it, yeah, I thought it was very humbling. After a lot of years of dancing it’s a whole different rhythm and I have a whole lot of respect for anybody I see doing hip-hop,” cast members Jenny Hines, Sharon Johnson and Ruth Bugus said.

The cast said the performance is high energy and involves a lot of backstage ibuprofen and epsom salts.

“Halftime – Gotta Dance” plays next Wednesday through Saturday at Shawnee Mission Park.