Breaking Stereotypes of Aging in ‘Rooftop’

Affirming that the second half of life is more than just “a halfway house to the grave,” “Tom Tom on a Rooftop” at Theatre West proves a serviceable, if not particularly original, vehicle for putting a spotlight on the issue of ageism.

Daniel Keough’s good-natured new comedy is an upbeat urban myth about seniors in a run-down apartment building overcoming the stereotypes they’ve internalized about growing old.

The show benefits immensely from charming chemistry between Betty Garrett and Philip Abbott as two principal residents who decide to be more than passive rooftop voyeurs getting vicarious thrills from the amorous escapades of the newlyweds in the next building. Their budding romance reflects all the tentative steps of adolescent courtship, tempered with the insight and compassion that proves a lifetime of experience has its advantages.

The well-cast ensemble (Gary Michaels, Jack Kutcher, Dianne Turley Travis and Lesley Woods) also make strong cases along similar lines, despite some rather predictable scripting and purely functional dialogue.

Appealing as the performances are, however, they gloss over the less convenient problems associated with aging. Portraying a daughter’s desire to relocate her mother to a nursing home as nothing more than yuppie selfishness works as long as the mother is obviously self-sufficient, but in the real world, many different levels of diminished capacity make the quandary a lot more nebulous.

* “Tom Tom on a Rooftop,” Theatre West, 3333 Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood. Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends March 2. $15. (213) 851-7977. Running time:2 hours, 15 minutes.