Light Musical on Getting Old

Growing old isn’t easy, particularly when the husband is no longer the breadwinner. Jerry and Steve Mayer’s new musical, “You Haven’t Changed a Bit and Other Lies” at the Whitefire Theatre is a somewhat corny, though heartfelt look at three married couples in their 60s and their personal and senior moment-induced tribulations as they prepare to renew their vows after 35 years.

The Mayer father-and-son team has filled this slight musical with plenty of old-fashioned values. The women (Marla Adams, Jennifer Darling and Diane M. Hurley) are the wiser halves of the marital partnerships. The husbands (Steve Franken, Peter Jason and Steve Susskind) no longer go to work, because oflayoffs and retirement.

There’s the threat of hanky-panky and a possible separation. Alcoholism and clogged arteries threaten one marriage, but these are minor compared to the threat of aging with its memory loss and lost physical charms.

Director Caroline McWilliams maintains a light and bouncy feeling, and Miriam Nelson’s choreography is cheery and humorous. The cast is uniformly funny, and though all of their voices aren’t top-notch, the cast’s enthusiastic mugging makes up for it.

*

“You Haven’t Changed a Bit and Other Lies,” Whitefire Theatre, 13500 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Sundays, 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Indefinitely. $22.50-$25. (310) 459-1548. Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes.