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A musical revue on the muddle of middle-age relationships, ‘Closer Than Ever’ is an evening of witty songs sprung onto the stage by a silky smooth production and stellar cast. Like Sondheim’s ‘Company’ without the half-arsed attempt at a plot, Richard Maltby’s and David Shire’s bookless concert brings together ruminations on sex, separation and the aging process as it gently probes its well-trodden subject.
It’s at its best at its edgiest, in the roar of ‘You Wanna Be My Friend?’ or the wall-eyed terror of ‘The March of Time’, and its worst in the yawnsome ballads that clog up the second act. There’s a nagging feeling that time has caught up with it, and though many of the best jokes still land, it’s a relatively toothless and surprise-free evening.
Maltby himself directs, and if his production feels discombobulatingly full-on Broadway-ish in this wee fringe theatre it’s also loaded with charm, and backed by a superb piano and bass duo. Sophie-Louise Damm takes the gold for the sheer power of her pipes, but it’s Issy van Randwyck who makes the strongest numbers pop from the stage. It’s all proper old-fashioned fun, but half-an-hour too long and a spoonful of sentiment too heavy to make it a must-see