THE LAST FIVE YEARS at Centre des Arts Pluriels Ettelbruck

"[Jason Robert Brown] turns a modest, 80-minute, two-character musical into a richly satisfying emotional journey." 
TIME Magazine

The Last Five Years tells the story of Cathy and Jamie, two lovers in their twenties, at the beginning of their careers. Cathy’s dream is to become a successful actress, while Jamie is seeing his chance at becoming the next big hit as a writer. They are madly in love with each other, but their drive to succeed in their chosen professions as well as an unhealthy mix of hubris, lust and insecurity challenge their relationship. The composer Jason Robert Brown wrote the musical love story from the two opposite ends of the timeline: Cathy starts at the end and Jamie at the beginning of the relationship. The cast and creative team consists of artists working in theaters all over Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Luxemburg.

[The Last Five Years raconte l'histoire de Cathy et Jamie, deux amoureux dans la vingtaine, au début de leur carrière. Le rêve de Cathy est de devenir une actrice à succès, tandis que Jamie se voit en auteur de best-sellers. Ils sont follement amoureux l'un de l'autre, mais leur volonté de réussir dans leurs professions respectives, ainsi qu'un mélange malsain d'orgueil, de désir et d'insécurité, mettent à l'épreuve leur relation. Le compositeur Jason Robert Brown a écrit cette histoire d'amour musicale en utilisant les deux extrémités opposées de la chronologie : Cathy commence à la fin et Jamie au début de la relation. La distribution de cette production se compose d'artistes travaillant dans des théâtres en Autriche, en Allemagne, en Suisse et au Luxembourg.]

SYNOPSIS

Cathy and Jamie's relationship has lasted five years. As the story begins, Cathy is at the end of the relationship while Jamie is at the beginning. With inter-cutting scenes, we watch Jamie move forward in time as Cathy moves backward. Cathy has just found a note from her husband, Jamie, signifying the end of their marriage. While she still struggles with their break-up, she feels that he has easily moved on without her. Five years prior, Jamie has just met Cathy. He is soaring from the high of it. He recounts his past relationships, feeling as if he's been waiting for her all of his life. Cathy (moving backwards) is hopeful for the healing of their marriage. Jamie has come to meet her in Ohio, where she has been working as a performer [...] Jamie wakes up beside another woman. He knows that he must go see Cathy in Ohio. Fighting panic and a feeling of inevitability, he admits to the other woman that he has fallen in love with her. Cathy floats on air at the end of her first date with Jamie. They have shared their first kiss, and she wants the magical moment to last forever. She bids him goodbye until tomorrow. At the same time, Jamie ends their relationship. He simply bids her goodbye.

INSPIRATION

The Last Five Years was written during the two years that Jason Robert Brown toured the country as conductor and musical director of the national tour of another one of his shows, Parade. Distraught with the state of musical theatre style at the time, he wanted to create an emotionally intimate, musically complex piece. Brown's musical style, although it only uses a select number of instruments, draws on a significant number of genres, from classical to rock to klezmer.