Darius de Haas and Eddie Korbich celebrate a union, as Allyson Kaye Daniel and Sally Wilfert look lovingly on.
There are, a variety of sources have it, no legitimate rhymes for “orange.” But get a load of: “Yes, I know it feels foreign/ Just to suck a week-old Mandarin orange.” In About Time, the new revue at the Marjorie S. Deane, Richard Maltby Jr. does it. And he’s 88.
The verbal dexterity of Maltby, and the fertile musical imagination of David Shire, his writing partner of nearly seven decades, are a longtime given. They’ve never had a Broadway hit; the closest they got were Baby, in 1983, with a treasurable score, and Big, which ran a disappointing 193 performances but had an afterlife, thanks to some smart rewriting. They’ve had more success with off-Broadway revues, often consisting mainly of trunk tunes. Starting Here, Starting Now, in 1977, trafficked largely in the needs and wants of younger people; Closer Than Ever, a decade later, dealt with midcareer yuppies. Now, with About Time, Maltby and Shire venture into senior territory. The joyful news is, they haven’t lost their touch, not a whit.
That orange/foreign-j rhyme stems from “Over Ripe Fruit,” the plaint of three women (Allyson Kaye Daniel, Sally Wilfert, and Lynne Wintersteller) positing that the men who ignore them in favor of younger bounty don’t know what they’re missing, and in lesser hands it could have seemed tasteless. Here it hits with a bull’s-eye, as do most of the two dozen songs.
Most, as is the Maltby/Shire wont, are self-contained one-act plays. They have a beginning, middle, and end, and they end in a different place from where they began. They evoke emotions that are both universal and particular, a specific character saying something that makes many think, “Yeah.” One such song, “Life Story,” was a highlight of Closer Than Ever—in fact, of 1980s musicals. Wintersteller sang it unforgettably, and now, tall and silver-voiced as ever, her “Done” is one of the great moments of 2020s musicals. It’s an actual autobiography, an anecdote she told Maltby and Shire, and it’s tear-inducing.
Daniel Jenkins, a Maltby-Shire veteran, likes jazz.
As are “What Do I Tell the Children?”, in which Darius de Haas wonders how to peddle old-fashioned virtues to younger generations when lies, grift, and venality appear to yield bigger rewards, and “After All These Years,” with de Haas and a strong-voiced Eddie Korbich celebrating a wedding anniversary their younger selves never thought possible. But everybody gets a great moment. De Haas, quite handsome in his gray suit (costumes, unshowy and get-the-job-done, are by Tracy Christensen), is adorable on “Keys,” the plaint of a perfectly cogent sixty-something who still forgets where he put things. Daniel Jenkins, a Maltby-Shire veteran, shines in “I Like Jazz,” the happy confession of an ordinary guy who retreats to his man cave and drops the needle on the Charlie Mingus LP. Wilfert is hilarious on “(All I Want to Do Is) Go Dancing,” as a heavy-accented Greenpoint matron who still revels in disco. Kaye Daniel is heartbreaking on “Just a House,” as an elder largely abandoned by her kids and selling the family abode.
Lynne Wintersteller, with Kaye Daniel and Wilfert, salute “Over Ripe Fruit.”
Maltby also directs, with the same attention to detail and subtext he brought to Ain’t Misbehavin’, 48 years ago. These actors don’t just move, they convey meaning with their movement. (Marcia Milgrom Dodge did the choreography and musical staging.) James Morgan’s set is simple, as befits the material. Mitchell Fenton’s lighting is mostly an attractive blue but turns other colors to accentuate mood. The sound designer is unbilled and predictably twiddled the knobs too high; but it’s worth noting that, when Jenkins’ mic failed, his every word remained audible. Trained voices, hooray!
Then there’s the dual grand piano playing of Deniz Cordell and Annie Pasqua, assisted by bassist Scott Chaurette, giving eloquent voice to Shire’s always-melodic, still-surprising, rhythmically charged creations. He writes in traditional forms but goes places one doesn’t expect, usually better than where one thought things were headed. Maltby’s lyrics are of a literacy, neatness, and deftness simply unknown for most of post-Golden Age musical theater, and among the rhymes no one will see coming are “misfit”/ “hiss fit”/ “this fit,” “tool”/ “shul,” and “jazz”/ “Li’l Nas.” Many laugh-out-loud lines, and many that touch the heart.
By the time this utterly splendid cast is in the finale, celebrating how “we’ve been given a present with a worth beyond worth, for a limited stretch of time we can walk on this earth,” to the loveliest vocal harmonies currently to be heard on or off Broadway, nearly two and a half hours have passed, and not one minute feels extraneous. Please, please, release a cast album.
About Time runs through April 5 at the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater (10 W. 64th St.). Evening performances are at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, 7 p.m. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; matinees are at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday (3 p.m. on April 5). For tickets and additional information, visit ci.ovationtix.com/37022/production/1263512.
Author & Director: Richard Maltby Jr.
Composer: David Shire
Scenic Consultant: James Morgan
Costume Design: Tracy Christensen
Lighting Design: Mitchell Fenton
Musical Direction & Vocal Arrangements: Deniz Cordell
Choreography & Musical Staging: Marcia Milgrom Dodge
