After All These Years

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After All These Years is a new sophisticated musical revue paying tribute to the songs of Al Tapper who has been in the business for five decades with the composer/lyricist narrating the show on video. Unlike Sondheim on Sondheim in which that composer explained the mechanics of creating each number in his screen appearances, Tapper’s narration is about his life story and the genesis of each song. A talented cast of four do justice to the 22 songs: soprano Lara Allison, mezzo-soprano Emily Taylor Kaufman, baritone Daniel Olson and tenor Nathan Pecchia. Director Brian Childers who has specialized in musical revues keeps the show moving swiftly along.

Though we are not told if any of the songs come from Tapper’s 11 musicals, the most successful songs create skits or little musical playlets. “Arnie’s Diner” deals with his youthful hangout where owner Arnie always reminded Tapper and his friends “If you’re gonna stay/Then you better order something right away.” Pecchia plays the irate Arnie, Olson plays the young Tapper, and Allison and Kaufman play the two waitresses. In “Romance Doesn’t Last Forever,” all four singers remind us of the dangers of falling in love. The show ends with a big resounding up tempo number in which Kaufman plays a New York career woman who works her way up the corporate ladder in “Climbing On Up” while the other singers play the people in her life on the journey up.

Tapper’s narration is in chronological order from his childhood in Worcester, Massachusetts, to more recent times when he has begun losing friends and feeling that aging has caught up with him. In “I Have a Higher I.Q.”  Pecchia sings of the girl who he lost to a Chicago Cub while he was in high school and after. In the witty “The Swing,” athlete Tapper writes of golf, the hardest game he ever played. “The Glass” describes a cross-country trip Tapper made with a college fraternity brother which proved Stuart liked Jack Daniels a little too much. “I’m a Union Man” sung by Olson and Pecchia pays tribute to the summer Tapper worked for a rhubarb company where the regular employees all belonged to the Amalgamated Produce Union. Tapper reminds us that he has long been a member of ASCAP, the songwriters’ union.

Tapper tells us he has always been concerned by dilemmas he couldn’t solve which are wittily discussed in “What Did Noah Do Before the Rain” sung by Allison and Kaufman. Although he has written many love songs, he finds it easier to write break-up songs which are presented in a melodic medley which give all four performers a chance to sing solos: “Just Someone I Used to Know” (Pecchia), “Why Do I Always Thinks of You” (Kaufman), ‘You” (Olson), “He Doesn’t Love You Today” (Allison), and “Oh What a Night” which brings all four singers together. In “Strange Things Happen on a Train,” sung by Allison, Tapper writes of his favorite movie star who he does not reveal until the end of the song – though there are enough clues to guess. Tapper’s feelings of aging after all these years is described in “Elegy” sung by Olson about the people he has loved and who are gone now.  In “Laura,” Pecchia sings of the woman that Tapper has loved the last 30 years.

A few of the songs represent events that have had an impact on Tapper’s life: “Vladimir is Happy” is a clever song about the worse person he ever knew: Vladimir Putin. In 1992, an event happened that Tapper always wanted to turn into a musical but only wrote one song: “Joey Buttafuoco” in which Allison sings Amy Fisher and Olson sings Joey’s part. The show also includes a song Tapper wrote with a friend, composer Cary Hoffman, which is only now getting around to premiering, the catchy love song “Carry On” sung by Kaufman and turning into a duet with Pecchia joining in at the end.

David Wolfson is both musical director and appears on keyboard. The rest the accomplished band includes Greg Landes on percussion and Ken Rizzo on acoustic and electric bass. Mark Childers’ projection design gives each song its own environment as does the colorful lighting design by Christian Specht and Samantha Weiser. The many costumes by Cathy Small also help give each song its own specific look. Pete Dorton is responsible for the informative Al Tapper interviews. While After All These Years does not offer too many wow moments, the revue is diverting and tuneful which is what one wants from a musical cavalcade.

After All These Years (through October 10, 2026)

AMT Theater

For tickets, visit http://www.amttheater.org

Running time: 90 minutes without an intermission