“The Last Five Years” for the Next Four Weeks: Invest In It, and It Will Reward You

A phenomenon in the musical theater world that occurred toward the end of the 20th century was the emergence of the Off-Broadway Song-Cycle Musical. That's a small-scale, small-cast show, with a newly-composed score by one composer, with its songs performed in theatrical situations, and with little or no dialogue. And almost none of the music functions as connecting material, or as transitional or "recitative" moments--it's a series of self-contained, full songs, of the kind that actors love to audition with. This type of show is somewhere in between a revue, a book musical and a concert. But suffice it to say that singing actors are required, and a theatrical performance style is employed, and the actors don't get much time offstage!

While the on-Broadway antecedents of this genre include such shows as Harvey Schmidt's "I Do! I Do!" and the first act of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Song and Dance" (originally presented separately in England as "Tell Me on a Sunday"), an early example of the off-Broadway genre is "Closer Than Ever," the 1989 musical composed by David Shire that some called a revue, but which didn't have the comedy sketches, pre-existing songs, writing teams or production numbers that that term used to imply. Some more recent examples of the genre are "First Lady Suite" and "Hello Again" (both dating from 1993), by Michael John LaChiusa, and "Songs for a New World" (1995) and "The Last Five Years" (2002) by Jason Robert Brown. These shows, an outgrowth of the post-Sondheim school of musical theater composition, and shaped by the lack of huge production budgets that other types of musicals now require, were designed to be performed by musical theater actors in theaters, with the music in service of that theatrical context.

However, "The Last Five Years," which actually had its world premiere at Skokie's Northlight Theatre in 2001, has a unique conceit at its heart. There are only two actors, playing a romantic couple. And the young woman, Catherine Hiatt, who starts off the proceedings, is depicted in reverse chronological order throughout the one-act show. We see her version of the end of the story first, and then every time we see her again, it is earlier in time. The young man, Jamie Wellerstein, alternates stage time with her, and proceeds from start to finish in normal chronological order. Their story-telling modes intersect in the middle of the one-act show, on their wedding day. And they only sing together at that moment. Got that?

This month, a modest production of this powerful but modest show is running on the weekends at Stage 773 in Lakeview, brought to us by a new Production Company, Another Production Company. The company was founded by Raymond K. Cleveland and Toma Tavares Langston, two men who cut their theatrical teeth in Chicago companies like Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, and who serve as co-producers and co-directors for "The Last Five Years." And the show is in The Cab, the smallest of 773's performance spaces, running through October 5, 2012.

This production adds an element that the first productions of the show did not include--the romantic couple in question is not a Jewish man and a WASPish woman, but a Jewish man and an African-American woman. Rob Riddle plays Jamie as more yuppie than stereotypical Jew, and Dominique Reid plays Catherine as more unique and independent black woman than stereotypical black girl. So, their racial identities are different, but in ways that were not apparent when the off-Broadway cast was the semi-Jewish persona of Norbert Leo Butz and the very blonde presence of Sherrie Renee Scott.

Both of these young Chicago actors have marvelous voices. Reid, a recent graduate of Bradley University, at times reminded me of the young Dolly Parton in the way her voices quivers and floats in soft passages. She cuts a remarkably beautiful figure in her creamy, dreamy wedding gown, too. Riddle, who finished a master's degree at Southern Illinois University in 2010, is a thoroughly competent pop singer and a handsome, engaging presence. Both actors change costumes (a lot of costumes!) with aplomb, and look good in anything, apparently!

The acting is strong in this production as well, in that I really felt a connection between the characters, even though they are mostly alone when they sing to us (sometimes the other character is present, but usually silently, and occasionally in a different physical dimension). The chronology of the plot is indicated by projections on the rear wall of the stage area, but after a few songs the show's central device is crystal clear here. That's certainly a credit to the acting as well as the direction, and I have a feeling that other productions of this show may not handle that as well. The fourteen short scenes (no intermission) move by at just the right speed.

The music in this show is beautiful, to be sure, due to a combination oF Brown's compositional skill, the singers' voices and the musical direction, conducting and accompanying of Charlotte Rivard-Hoster. Her keyboard sits next to a violinist (Julia Macholl) and two cellists (Katalin Von Walterskirchen and Katie Spero), and the orchestra plays quite sensitively throughout. Brava to them!

Aside from the VERY modest physical production of this particular outing (black rehearsal cubes as chairs and tables?), the main problem with this show is inherent in the writing--it's quite depressing. I mean, we know from the get-go that the relationship will fail. (Catherine's first number is the lovely and well-known song, "I'm Still Hurting.") About the only redemption that ameliorates the inherent sadness is the fact that, even though the writing may favor Catherine's point of view, each character seems to bear some of the blame; or, at minimum, their respective versions of the five year arc are so different, that perhaps they never really communicated well when they were together.

Don't get me wrong! The show and the production are moving and engaging and insightful. But it's rough going, and the audience has to really care and pay attention. Fortunately, Riddle and Reid, and the orchestra with them, make you care, force you to pay attention, and lead you into the hope that your own relationships don't suffer a similar fate. Those are clear plusses for this production. It sounds beautiful, and we meet two multi-dimensional characters, while we get to know two successful young performers on the rise. Be prepared to think, to feel, and to be challenged. It's a rewarding evening of Chicago-style musical theater.

"The Last Five Years," written and composed by Jason Robert Brown, runs September 6-October 5, 2012, on Thursdays and Fridays, at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Avenue, Chicago, produced by Another Production Company. Co-directed by Raymond K. Cleveland and Toma Tavares Langston, the production stars Rob Riddle and Dominique Reid. Musical Direction is by Charlotte Rivard-Hoster, with lighting design by Devin Carroll. For further information, please visit http://www.anothurproductionco.com/

To post a comment, you must register and login.