led to a much expanded production retitled Closer Than Ever that was co-directed by Maltby and Smith and featured musical direction by Patrick Scott Brady.

It then came to New York, beginning previews on October 17 and officially opening November 6 at the off-Broadway Cherry Lane Theatre, where it ran for 312 performances.

[3] Closer Than Ever features self-contained songs which deal with such diverse topics as security, aging, mid-life crisis, second marriages, working couples, and unrequited love.

In particular, he wanted to make use of one of his favorite songs, "The Bear, The Tiger, The Hamster, and The Mole", which had been cut from Maltby and Shire's 1983 musical Baby.

[6] The music was interspersed with dramatic sketches on urban themes by various playwrights, including Christopher Durang, A. R. Gurney, Terrence McNally, Arthur Miller, Shel Silverstein, Ted Tally, and Wendy Wasserstein.

The cast included Larry Fishburne, John Rubinstein, Oliver Platt, Nancy Giles, Faith Prince, Rex Robbins and E. Katherine Kerr.

[6] Maltby and Shire received support to expand the show when producers Janet Brenner, Michael Gill, and Daryl Roth came on board.

New songs written for the expansion include the opening number, "Doors," "You Want To Be My Friend?," "Fandango," "If I Sing," "The March of Time," "Back On Base," and the finale, "Closer Than Ever."

Also returning were Brady as musical director (and the third male performer in two songs) and bassist Robert D. Renino, who had also played during the show's original run.

The Shandaken Theatrical Society launched a production that ran from August 14–21, 2010 directed by Ricarda O'Conner and starred Janna Cardia, Alex Agard, and Austin Ku, Amy Wallace, and Chuck Sokolowski, and with musical director Eric Thomas Johnson.

Houston's UpStage Theatre opened their 2015–16 season with a production staged by John Carmona, musical direction by Lucy Cain Hargis, and starring Ruth Calabrese, Michael C. Shivers, Faith Taylor, and Joe Carl White.