GETTING OLDER NEVER
SOUNDED SO GOOD

A richly satisfying Maltby and Shire revue finds
warmth, wit, and wisdom in growing older

Lynne Wintersteller, Sally Wilfert, Allyson Kaye Daniel

While it may be true that getting old (excuse me, getting older) is no picnic, a taste of that period of life is more palatable—even sweet—when accompanied by the smart songs cooked up by composer David Shire and lyricist Richard Maltby, Jr. in About Time, the revue now on at Marjorie S. Dean Little Theater.

Darius de Haas

Packed with reflective songs and relatable scenarios, spiced with humor and heart, it’s a banquet of flavorful musical fare presented in vignettes by six likeable performers who take on a range of characters in the AARP years. And that’s exactly what we’d expect from the pair whose writing craft has been on display for decades in the Broadway musicals Big and Baby and two stellar revues—Starting Here, Starting Now and Closer Than Ever—as well as Shire’s movie scores and their work with other collaborators. The titles of those two earlier revues are cleverly worked into early lyrics as a wink of acknowledgment to their past and for audiences who “get” the (self-)references.

Daniel Jenkins, Lynne Wintersteller, Allyson Kaye Daniel,
Sally Wilfert, Darius de Haas, Eddie Korbich

The material for full company numbers, solos, smaller groupings, and couples (dating, long-married spouses, exes, commiserating friends, and a small but impactful percentage of same-sex twosomes). Without resorting to cartoonish, buffoonish portrayals, there are comical characterizations and amusing situations. And, under Mr. Maltby’s direction, there’s poignancy without relying on sentimentality or manipulation or milking emotions when addressing frustration, worries, regrets, loneliness, or mortality. It’s a life-affirming, carpe diem kind of atmosphere, and the life lessons that come through most prominently (but always warmly and entertainingly) could be summed up as survival-skill mantras of “Keep your perspective” and “Don’t lose your sense of humor.”

Daniel Jenkins, Allyson Kaye Daniel, Eddie Korbich, and Lynne Wintersteller

Attentive Maltby/Shire admirers may notice some welcome recycling, recognizing “Only When I Laugh,” written for the movie Big, and the name of a character from Big on Broadway called “Little Susan Lawrence” which had been cut from that score but reinstated for its tour.

Lynne Wintersteller

The beguiling performers each have a different persona that’s skillfully brought to life: Allyson Kaye can be a sassy force of nature with pluck and perseverance; Darius de Haas is a subtle blend of strength and sensitivity; Daniel Jenkins is a what-you-see-is-what-you-get, forthright Everyman; Eddie Korbich has endless charm with show-bizzy panache, singing about writing a show tune and doing a vaudeville turn about a gender-switching performer; Sally Wilfert is wonderfully warm as the aforementioned Susan recalling her youth, and as a dance-loving grandma flouting expectations of senior citizens; and Lynne Wintersteller is impactful as women reclaiming their dignity with survival skills, reminiscent of her vibrancy in the original cast (and on the cast album) of Closer Than Ever. Big bravos to all—and to Marcia Milgrom Dodge for choreography/musical staging and to pianists Annie Pasqua and Deniz Cordell, the latter also providing the arrangements.

Eddie Korbich

Last night, March 17, Cordell musical directed a concert reading of the songwriters’ score of Baby at 54 Below, the venue that presented About Time in November with his co-pianist and some of the same cast members. Earlier last year, the revue had a run with the same six actor-singers at Goodspeed in Connecticut.

Daniel Jenkins

As you might reasonably guess, predict, hope, and expect, the topics covered in the score check the boxes related to concerns of aging: parents dealing with empty-nest syndrome when the kids grow up; forgetfulness; feeling out of sync with the times and missing the old times; health and physical concerns; bittersweet memories of the past with 20/20 hindsight; confronting other people’s stereotypes of senior citizens; very long-term relationships; and starting over with new ones. After all, aging is not only a reflection of real life; it has also been addressed and assessed in other stage shows over the years, in productions with varied visibility—with titles that give hints of their tones: Taking My Turn; Aging Is Not a Fairy Tale; Assisted Living The Musical; 70, Girls, 70; Menopause The Musical; and the recently seen Now Comes the Fun Part (The How-the-f*#k-did-I-get-this-old Musical).

Sally Wilfert

The woes and wonders of the experience of aging are universal, so this well-crafted set of songs should itself have a long, long life—especially if productions are blessed with savvy, skilled casts like this one. They make “Senior Moments” memorable.

Daniel Jenkins, Allyson Kaye Daniel, Eddie Korbich,
Sally Wilfert, Darius de Haas, Lynne Wintersteller

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

photos by Julieta Cervantes

About Time
Marjorie S. Dean Little Theater
10 West 64th Street, New York, NY
ends on April 5, 2026
for tickets, visit About Time Musical

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦