After ‘Closer Than Ever,’ Mayes Is Closer Than Ever to Stardom

David Shire and Richard Maltby Jr. clearly knew what they were doing when they cast Sally Mayes in their hit musical review, “Closer Than Ever.”

Bubbling with effervescent energy, the 31-year-old Texas-born singer was lovingly praised by the New York critics for her “Ginger Rogers spunk,” “cherry lips” and “ostrich-egg face.”

“When ‘Closer Than Ever’ hit,” recalls Mayes, “it was like a hurricane. I had to sit back and go, ‘OK, reality check, reality check.’ Because your tendency is to say, ‘Oh, look at all the nice things they’re saying about me; I must be really neat!’ But the reality of the business is that they can say that one year and then the next year you’re not working.”

It seems unlikely that Mayes will have to worry about standing in unemployment lines any time soon. She’s just released a jazz-oriented collection of Dorothy Fields songs on DRG Records, and she will re-create her colorful group of characters for Sunday’s opening of “Closer Than Ever” at the Pasadena Playhouse.

Mayes, the daughter of a jazz guitarist, appeared at the Alley Theatre in Houston and in local productions of such shows as “Dames at Sea” and “Chicago.” But her Cinderella story really began when she was cast in her first Broadway musical four months after she arrived in New York City.

“I know it seems quick,” she says, “but don’t forget that I was in my late 20s when I moved up North. My theory is that you’re sort of an amoeba up to a certain age--maybe around 25--and then you start developing into something.

“So right now I’m ready for anything,” adds Mayes. “More theater? Yes! And if I could do an album a year and maybe a mini-tour, I’d be the happiest girl in the world. But, hey, I want a house and a baby, too, so if a sitcom comes along, too, well, just send it my way.”