The news is looking pretty grim these days, with the exception of the pandemic-delayed Olympics (go, USA!), but the theater is a place we can go to escape for a few hours.

Riverside Center for the Performing Arts continues its run of nostalgia-heavy shows, following the recent “Marvelous Wonderettes” that was overflowing with crowd-pleasing songs from the 1950s and ’60s. For its latest production, however, the theater isn’t going that far back.

“Grumpy Old Men” is a sweet surprise for another movie-turned-musical. Based on the 1993 classic starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, the story follows two neighbors feuding over the town’s foxy newcomer as they also grapple with changing times, financial troubles and—for one of them—a ridiculously persistent tax collector.