BWW Previews: PATEL CONSERVATORY OFFERS INNOVATIVE TAKE ON THE LAST FIVE YEARS at Straz' TECO Theatre

Coming to Straz Center's TECO Theatre on February 10-13 is the musical The Last Five Years that takes the audience on a whirlwind journey through five years of a marriage between Jamie and Cathy. This powerful musical examines a relationship from beginning to destruction and then backward, from dissolution to the first introduction.

What is unique about this Patel Conservatory production is that this two-person musical is being performed with two sets of lead actors, ensemble-style with fourteen performers, ages 14-18.

Under the direction of Matt Belopavlovich, the musical features the Ohio Cast: Cathy - Megan Lisko-Snelling and Sydney Beck, Jamie - Jackson Fowler and James King, the New York City Cast: Cathy - Madelyn Ruyle and Brilee Gold, Jamie - Linus O'Palick and Jadon Milne, and ensemble: Ava Shimmel, Ava Cornett, Jordan Hunter, Jordan Landry, Tia Olivia, and Zoe Priolo.

James King, 17, and Brilee Gold, 17, who play one fated pair, spoke about their couple.

"Jamie is a young writer who is trying to find himself. By finding himself, he loses what he wanted to strive for in the first place - finding love. It drives him to a place he hasn't been before," said James. "I'm usually playing shy characters, and this time, I get to play a confident go-getter. It really opens up my experiences. I like to figure out my own choice for Jamie that is different from their's (the other actor). It's a very fresh and new take on the show. Usually, you don't see the characters on the stage at the same time. Being able to understand what they are going through at the moment and communicating with others as well makes the story much clearer."

Brilee said that the character of Cathy is a dreamer.

"She has goals that she set for herself, and she wants to go get them. She's an overthinker and impulsive. She has a beautiful chaos to her intentions, but at the same time, she strives for what she wants with strong intention. Playing Cathy has allowed me to expand on my emotions. It's really a fun experience to take what everyone has seen from all the different versions (musical, movie) and make it into what I can create and add some of my own pieces to Cathy.

"Having an ensemble gives the show an extra sense of environment, and you can see how other people surrounding them can affect the characters. It adds new intention and new ideas. Also, in this show, you see how both characters are equally flawed and correct, their own heroes in their own way, and each other's enemy while maintaining a relationship as lovers. "

Matt said that she is joined by the female ensemble whenever Cathy is singing something with extreme or deep emotion. "We're letting the audience see this buildup of emotion. We have more power behind some of those moments."

When Cathy and Jamie get engaged, the stage is filled with other couples in Central Park also proposing.

"We're given the message that this is a story of one relationship, but many relationships are like this one, and we can see ourselves in different aspects of Cathy and Jamie. Unlike Cathy and Jamie, they might have a different destination depending on who they are," Matt said. "Each night, there are two Cathy's and two Jamie's and a six-person ensemble. We see them moving through their timeline, and each Cathy and each Jamie have different responsibilities of showing different personalities throughout that five-year marriage. We're looking at how someone changes and evolves in their personality."

Nathaniel Williams, a professional choreographer, and sixteen-year-old Jordan Landry, a student choreographer, have added more movement and dance to the production.

"With our student choreographer, in the beginning, middle, and end, we see a dance between a couple, and throughout the show, we see it as a reoccurring theme because the music has a reoccurring theme. It is the evolution of the relationship through dance."

Nathaniel is designing choreography for Summer in Ohio and Moving Too Fast pieces.

A live 6-person chamber pit onstage of students, staff, and professional musicians playing violins, cellos, guitars, and piano, makes the beautiful musical even more unique.

"They are really important. They are part of the show. This show is mostly sung, so it's an interesting element to have them there because the music is so integral to the storytelling," said Matt. "The two sets of Cathys and Jamies, the ensemble, the choreography, and the live music really make our production something special."

The Last Five Years is at Straz' TECO Theatre on February 10-13. Learn more and buy tickets at https://www.strazcenter.org/Events/Patel-Shows/The-Last-Five-Years.

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