Maybe it was the Old Spice or the soft Superstore coat blanketed over the seat in front that made it seem love was in the air at Gateway Theatre.
More likely it came from the stage.
Closer Than Ever, which opened last Friday at the Minoru Park playhouse, explores the everyday challenges of middle-aged people, such as the search for love at an increasingly complicated time.
With a talented cast and thoughtful direction, this show is a delight.
Written by the songwriting duo of Richard Maltby and David Shire, Closer Than Ever is a two-hour musical revue. There’s no dialogue, only a lovely marriage of melodies and words. Each of the two dozen songs is its own story, tackling topics such as aging, failed relationships, career complications and other circumstances that bring joy and pain to folks in the over-30 crowd.
We’re introduced to this “urban love story” with the song Doors — four people in a penthouse wondering what’s on the other side, every day another door. There’s a closed door of love in She Loves Me Not, a new door of friendship after a relationship ends in You Wanna Be My Friend? and a door to a man’s creepy obsession over a woman in What Am I Doin’.
It’s in that stalker song we’re shown the talents of Chris D. King, a member of the ensemble cast of five who Gateway audiences know as musical director of the theatre’s December shows. A cheeky King is spot on in delivering one of the more hilarious songs of the bunch.
Caitriona Murphy shows her fine form in Miss Byrd, a seemingly shy woman with a sexy secret who is “not saying a thing.” Cavorting with a desk and turning a pencil into a mic, Murphy easily draws us in with her strong solo.
Ma-Anne Dionisio goes deep in Patterns, living in a heartbreaking song about a middle-aged woman stuck in a rut. Kevin Aichele is equally brilliant in If I Sing, in which a man offers a touching tribute to his father.
Group numbers are particularly strong. A creative team led by Jovanni Sy, Caitlin Hayes and Dawn Ewen allows the actors to share the well-crafted stories of Maltby and Shire for what they are — examinations of critical life stages so rarely discussed openly. With the possible exception of The March of Time, which drives home obvious points of aging, these musical vignettes are important and thoughtful, but not without humour and fun. It’s a sweet relationship.
Closer Than Ever runs on the MainStage until Feb. 20. Tickets, $20 to $45, at 604-270-1812 or GatewayTheatre.com.
