STAGE REVIEW : Song-Packed ‘Closer Than Ever’ a Winner

“Closer Than Ever,” the new David Shire/Richard Maltby Jr. revue, offers a tribute to contemporary life in all of its complexity. It may be targeted to the late thirtysomething, early fortysomething crowd, but its scope is still wide, from “Life Story,” a song about an independent woman who raised her child alone, to “There,” a story about about a doomed relationship to “If I Sing,” a moving tribute to fathers.

One could cite all 25 songs with pleasure in this Pasadena Playhouse production at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts.

Not a word is spoken between numbers and none is needed. Each song, by itself, with deliciously choreographed movements, tells a story or offers a laugh--as the team takes on fitness programs, “Muzak” and the sexy, secret life of a quiet little receptionist named Miss Byrd.

Maltby and Shire are best known for their collaboration on the musical “Baby,” even though they boast their own separate achievements. Maltby, a co-lyricist for “Miss Saigon,” won a Tony for his direction of “Ain’t Misbehavin’ ” and Shire won an Oscar for “It Goes Like It Goes” from Norma Rae.

But, if there’s any justice, they will soon be even better known for “Closer Than Ever.” This is a terrific show that was a hit in Pasadena and is already close to selling out here.

The songs are invariably clever: Maltby is the kind of lyricist who will rhyme “trendy” with “modus operandi” or “Quaalude” with a line like “the past is only prelude.” Shire, who writes memorable melodies, chips in lyrics for an homage to second marriages (which he originally wrote for his own) called “Another Wedding Song.”

The songs are all performed sublimely by Gary Beach, Meg Bussert, Sally Mayes and Jason Workman. Bussert’s liquid soprano brings a natural elegance and dignity to her numbers, particularly “The Bear, The Tiger, The Hamster and The Mole,” a celebration of the single motherhood of most animal species. The song might have come off joke-y in less capable hands. Mayes, with her pouty lips and belting voice, proves a good match for the hot, hip-swiveling songs. The young, romantic Workman complements the older Beach, a cut-up who can get away with playing one of the girls in the “Three Friends” song and make it funny rather than ridiculous.

Maltby co-directed with Steven Scott Smith, who also conceived the show. Together, they have brought out the humanity in each vignette.

Musical director Gerald Sternbach plays piano on stage, while Robert D. Renino plays bass. Both participate as needed, with Renino bringing his bass center stage for the comic “Back on Base” and Sternbach providing a fifth voice for “Fathers of Fathers.”

The technical details are flawless, from Joshua Starbuck’s simple lighting to Claudia Stephens’ unfussy costumes to Jon Gottlieb’s clear sound design.

The set by Philipp Jung--four doors on the side of the stage with a screen backdrop, with swiftly shifting projected images--suggests the choices we make daily in deciding to open doors so that we can enter or leave, and all the ambivalence, memory and desire each such decision entails. “Whatever road you take, the longing is a given” as a lyric goes in “One of the Good Guys.”

One road you probably won’t regret taking is the road to Poway to catch this show, a preview of coming attractions for the new Pasadena Playhouse series at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts.

It’s a winner.

‘CLOSER THAN EVER’

By Richard Maltby Jr. and David Shire. Conceived by Steven Scott Smith and co-directed by Richard Maltby Jr. and Smith. Musical direction by Gerald Sternbach. Bassist is Robert D. Renino. Additional vocal arrangements by Patrick Scott Brady. Musical staging by Marcia Milgrom Dodge, re-created by Anita Flanagan. Set by Philipp Jung. Lights by Joshua Starbuck. Costumes by Claudia Stephens. Sound by Jon Gottlieb. Production stage manager is David S. Franklin. Stage manager is Christopher Hardt. With Gary Beach, Meg Bussert, Sally Mayes and Jason Workman. A Pasadena Playhouse production at 8 p.m. today and Friday. Tickets are $25. At the Poway Center for the Performing Arts, 1598 Espola Road, (800) 883-PLAY.