By Matthew Wexler
“New York City inflates who you are, then moves on.” It’s a powerful lyric—one of several gems to be discovered in About Time, the third installment in Richard Maltby, Jr. and David Shire’s Life, A Musical song cycle. If it’s occasionally long-winded or kissed with overexuberant panache, so be it. They’ve earned the stage time, as has the acting company, which collectively has 36 Broadway credits among them.
Following Starting Here, Starting Now (1976) and Closer Than Ever (1989), which explored young love and middle age, respectively, About Time unabashedly puts aging center stage. And while there’s the occasional nod to dementia and loss, much of Maltby and Shire’s score is a celebration of life, even the ugly parts.
Where it works and what’s stopping the clock
The Off-Broadway 145-seat Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater on Manhattan’s Upper West Side offers a cozy home for the intimate revue, accompanied by two pianos and bass. Deniz Cordell’s musical direction and vocal arrangements further uplift the talented cast, including Lynne Wintersteller, an original cast member of Closer Than Ever nearly 40 years ago.
DISCOVER MORE OFF-BROADWAY
In ‘Bigfoot!’ everyone’s a little othered. Until one very hairy hero takes a giant leap for all of them
It’s Wintersteller’s “No One Will Know,” a story song about a long-ago affair that will remain a secret to the grave, that encapsulates Maltby and Shire’s brilliance. Both conversational and musically elevated, the collaborators are at their best when a character’s specificity leaps off the page. Other standouts include Eddie Korbich’s “Kensington Kenny,” a discovery of a long-gone grandfather’s cross-dressing music hall career and its quiet legacy of LGBTQ+ identity.
The show is less sure-footed when it steps back from its characters. Richard Maltby Jr.’s direction and Marcia Milgrom Dodge’s musical staging can feel a bit too on-the-nose, and a two-act structure could be trimmed to save the cast and audience some of that precious, oft-mentioned time. But when talent and storytelling align, About Time offers a too-rare opportunity to see seasoned musical theater performers do what they do best.
It wants better content.
Is ‘About Time’ worth seeing?
3 out of 5 stars
About Time occasionally overstays its welcome, but when composers Maltby and Shire, and this deeply credentialed cast align, the result is musical theater at its most human.
- Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater, 10 West 64th Street, New York City
- Notable performers: Allyson Kaye Daniel, Darius de Haas, Daniel Jenkins, Eddie Korbivh, Sally Wilfert, and Lynne Wintersteller
- Running time: Two hours and 15 minutes with one intermission
- Performances through April 5, 2026
