1 relationship. 2 points of view. Moving forward while moving in reverse. At what point do we fall in love and then (unfortunately) out of love? When does a relationship slowly begin to unravel?
Jason Robert Brown's ingenious two-character musical,
The Last Five Years shows this cycle of love from two points of view: beginning to end (from the man's perspective) concurrently from end to beginning (from the woman's perspective).
The Last Five Years is a powerful show with an immense amount of heart, brilliantly told in its raw, honest, no-frills complex simplicity. With only two characters in the show and a band, barely hidden from view on stage, it is important that all members of the show are strong both as actors and musicians. The show is made up of mostly solo turns from each of the two actors forcing the audience to really invest in the intensely heartfelt lyrics. Understanding the concept of "less is more" is the key in this show because the underlying emotion and feeling are so complex and intricate that any over acting or over staging will overshadow the importance of the show's meaning.
I was hopeful about the Pasadena Playhouse's presentation of
The Last Five Years but disappointed that this production couldn't fulfill the potential of what it should have been. Misty Cotton was vocally strong as
Catherine Hiatt, unfortunately she lacked consistency in her power as an actor. While she was able to sing
"Still Hurting" with heartbreaking emotion and
"I'm A Part of That" was sweet and somewhat loving, nothing else she sang was particularly noteworthy until her hopeful
"Goodbye Until Tomorrow" by the end of the show.
Unfortunately, I don't understand why Daniel Tatar was even cast as
Jamie Wellerstein. The impression I got from seeing his performance is that he completely missed rehearsal for the show entirely and it wasn't until the end of the show that he was somewhat able to understand his character. I grew frustrated in his performance, because he couldn't for the life of him figure out how to come in on cue when he sang. Tatar butchered
"Shiksa Goddess" and I was hard pressed to believe that his character was really that enthusiastic about having met
Cathy or anyone like her while coming in severely off beat in each phrase. I also couldn't understand why his character sang
"Moving Too Fast" -- did he really think things were moving too fast or was he mocking the idea that things were really moving too fast? His interpretation of the song along with his inability to know where to breathe in between phrases resulted in a poor performance and a character that wasn't easy for the audience to care about. While I'm at it, I don't really think he understood why Brown wrote
"The Shumel Song" either. Tatar seemed too interested in trying to overly-entertain the audience with his lackluster dancing and the need to over enunciate and sing (sometimes off tempo) "Na na na na" which was entirely distracting. The sweet, loving Schmuel song simply wasn't in this production. Tatar however seemed to somewhat understand what it meant to end a relationship and conveyed the heartbreak of the demise of his marriage by the show's end. By this time though, believing his character was too little, too late.
The Last Five Years is at its core a brilliant, refreshing telling of a love story. It takes an extremely strong actor to effectively understand and portray these characters. With only two characters, both actors involved have to have a very strong sense of who
Jamie and
Cathy are and understand how to portray that without overacting or oversinging. It is vitally important though to understand the material first. It was apparent that neither actor in this production really knew the characters they were playing but seemed more eager to get a laugh with their facial expressions and inappropriate dance moves than truly understanding the material.
The Last Five Years isn't about humor, but these actors seemed too intent in getting laughter and acceptance from the audience.
Brown's ingenious storytelling for which he won the 2002 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music & Outstanding Lyrics, explores the very nature of love and relationships with all of its complex intricately woven emotions. If staged correctly with the right actors and musicians,
The Last Five Years is a funny, touching, beautiful and heartbreaking tale and by the end of the show, you don't know which is the stronger emotion because they all equally resonate in your mind.
The Last Five Years is currently playing in repertory with
"I Do! I Do!" as part of
The Marriage Musicals at the Pasadena Playhouse through August 6. Call 626/356-PLAY or visit
pasadenaplayhouse.org for exact performance times. Tickets range between $54-$71 and can be purchased at the number above or by visiting the Playhouse Box Office (noon- 6 p.m. daily).
