Closer Than Ever

Out at Queens Theatre in the Park a handsome revival of Richard Maltby and David Shire’s CLOSER THAN EVER gave fan’s of the revered revue a chance to finally see it instead of only hearing it. The popularity of the original cast album has inspired a generation of music theatre writers, but opportunities to see the song cycle live are hard to come by. This new production featured two original cast members, Sally Mayes and Lynne Wintersteller. The supporting men are new to the piece and were ably played by George Dvorsky and Sal Viviano. This middle-aged group is now a little old to sing some of the lyrics pertaining to issues of the thirty-something set, but never the less, the group sold the show with expert performances. A few new songs were added to the program and they were equally welcome along with the good old ones such as, “Doors”, “She Loves Me Not”, “You Want to Be My Friend” and “Miss Byrd.” In the end a song cycle becomes a bit tiresome without a story or regular characters to follow, but for fans of this music, such as the man in the third row who mouthed every lyric right along with the cast, this production made for a fine showcase of Maltby and Shire’s songs. The production was directed by Richard Maltby himself, music directed by Patrick Brady and choreographed by Kurt Stamm. It was co-produced by Bristol Riverside Theatre in Pennsylvania where the show plays after the Queens run.