THEATER REVIEW : ‘Closer Than Ever’: A Mix of Musical Styles, to the Tune of Middle Class

You don’t have to be a fortysomething baby boomer to enjoy “Closer Than Ever,” although this 1989 revue by Richard Maltby Jr. and David Shire lavishes virtually all its musical attention on that pampered post-World War II generation.

You can love it just as much when you’re a sixtysomething refugee from the Great Depression, to judge by the delighted, largely gray-haired audience that filled Long Beach Playhouse’s Studio Theatre for this revival on opening night Saturday.

But, at any age, you may also wonder whether “Closer Than Ever” deserves the high praise heaped upon it since the original premiered in New York’s Greenwich Village, following a long off-Broadway gestation.

(The revue drew a lukewarm notice from a Times reviewer for a revival at Long Beach’s International City Theatre last year and an unqualified rave from the same reviewer several months later for a Pasadena Playhouse revival.)

The 23 songs in “Closer Than Ever” detail both the joys and Angst of modern, middle-class living. They chronicle, often in witty fashion, a host of tales about love, sex, marriage and divorce, making babies, growing older, motherhood and fatherhood, friendship and rejection.

Yet, for all the inventiveness of Maltby’s lyrics and Shire’s tunes, these songs seem a pastiche of musical styles. Sometimes they possess the pop blandness of a TV variety show of the ‘60s (“Doors”); or sound as though they hail from Dolly Parton country (“You Want To Be My Friend”); or resemble ‘60s folk music (“Life Story”); or strongly suggest the influence of Stephen Sondheim (“What Am I Doin’,” “Patterns”).

Indeed, the closer the revue comes to Sondheim, the better “Closer Than Ever” gets. Pound for pound, though, it is no match for that benchmark of eclectic musical revues, “Side by Side by Sondheim,” which covers much the same dramatic territory.

The four cast members of this production--Lucy Daggett, Gregory Franklin, Eric Strom and Debi Wheeler--deliver likable performances, despite being hampered by unnecessarily clumsy staging that has each of them jumping through hoops (occasionally even backward).

Director-choreographer Martie Ramm has chosen to emphasize the revue’s central metaphor that life is a series of doors opening before us and closing behind us. The scenic design features four portable, lightweight door frames. Each performer is paired with one of these and is continually required to step through and around it, without twisting an ankle.

If that were not sufficient to break the cast’s concentration and ours, the performers are required to wheel these inanimate mascots into different positions time and again at the conclusion of various songs. The idea is to catch our eye with assorted geometric configurations. It makes you want to shout: “Enough!”

But the professional cast is nothing if not game. Once the performers master Ramm’s distracting obstacle course, the performances are bound to convey a greater sense of assurance, charm and personality.

Wheeler already brings considerable singer’s savvy to her role, especially in two of the revue’s finer songs, “Life Story” (about a single mother on her own) and “Patterns” (about losing the nerve to change). Ditto for Franklin, who delivers another of the best songs, “One of the Good Guys” (about longing for missed chances).

Daggett shows plenty of sass throughout, especially with “Miss Byrd” (about a drab office worker who knows how to have a sexy time on her lunch hour). And Strom, who has the least polished stage presence, brings quiet warmth to his songs, including “Fandango,” one of the funnier duets (about a working couple bringing up baby).

This handsomely back-lighted production also has the superb virtue of Rob Woyshner’s onstage piano accompaniment. Woyshner, who doubles as musical director, gives a top-notch performance that propels the revue musically without stealing the spotlight. He was paired on opening night with bassist Eric Stiller.

* “Closer Than Ever,” Long Beach Playhouse Studio Theatre, 5021 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach. Fridays and Saturdays, 8 p.m., Sunday matinees (May 23, 30 and June 6) at 2 p.m. Ends June 12. $15. (310) 494-1616. Running time: 2 hours.