Gotta Dance! About Time
“Cool” from “West Side Story” (Photo: Christopher Duggan)
By Fern Siegel (Posted April 1, 2026)
When it comes to pure spectacle, nothing beats hot choreography.
Fit dancers, dynamic movement and some of the most memorable Broadway musical moments define Gotta Dance!, now off-Broadway at Studio 42. It’s a tribute to gifted choreographers, including Jerome Robbins, Susan Stroman, Randy Skinner and Bob Fosse. Their genius is accompanied by numbers from two Hollywood musicals, Singing in the Rain and White Christmas, which offer added artistic treats.
The explosion of talent — on and off stage — is awesome. Gotta Dance! is a celebration of the marriage between music and dance. Together, they not only forward the story arc, but express in singular ways, the depth of the human spirit.
Selections from West Side Story, Swing, Smokey Joe’s Cafe and An American in Paris, among others, illustrate how beautiful, and innovative form can be. Conceived by Nikki Feirt Atkins, who co-directed with Skinner, Gotta Dance! is 100 mesmerizing minutes.
Best of all, each selection offers brief context on the back wall of the stage — setting the scene with show title, year and choreographer. West Side Story’s “Cool” is nearly 70 years old, yet the number remains one of the most exciting in the Broadway canon.
In fact, whether sultry, sexy or balletic, Gotta Dance! will have you cheering in your seat — and make you wish every show opened with the joyful Lindy Hop.
L-R Daniel Jenkins, Allyson Kaye Daniel, Eddie Korbich, and Lynne Wintersteller (photo: Julieta Cervantes)
Richard Maltby, Jr and David Shire take their musical in a different direction — completing a triptych about age and expectation. The first two were Starting Here, Starting Now and Closer Than Ever. The duo’s latest work, About Time, off-Broadway at the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater, addresses baby boomers’ issues, including empty nests, divorce and dating. Aptly named, the charming musical revue offers little dialogue, but much heart.
Some 27 vignettes, often deceptively light, are amusing and melodious, anchored by insightful lyrics and a versatile cast who underscore the subtle nuances of aging. Be it a sweet memory of a grade-school crush, the secrecy of an affair or a widow leaving her home, Maltby and Shire hit all the right notes.
The six actors — Allyson Kaye Daniel, Darius de Haas, Daniel Jenkins, Eddie Korbich, Sally Wilfert and Lynne Wintersteller — play an array of roles. About Time, with choreography and musical staging by Marcia Milgrom Dodge, is a touching musical version of social realism. The trick is to add emotional context without citing a laundry list of woes. As directed by Maltby, the show succeeds in presenting an entertaining and wry critique of time and circumstance. For its targeted demo, it clicks.