I came late to The Last Five Years. Although I had been a huge fan of Jason Robert Brown's Parade (I saw it several times at Lincoln Center), and I had also been blown away by Norbert Leo Butz in the truly bad Thou Shalt Not, I just don't remember hearing about the original Off-Broadway production of The Last Five Years. And I didn't get the highly acclaimed CD until a couple of years ago. I've enjoyed listening to the CD as a pleasant diversion, but it hasn't really made its way onto my regular playlist. But when I saw that Second Stage was doing a revival of The Last Five Years, I knew I wanted to go.
The Last Five Years tells the story of a marriage - its 'twist' is that we see the wife's (Cathy) story played out backwards in time from the end of the marriage, and the husband's (Jamie) story is played forward from where they met. I think this is the positive and the negative of the show. In seeing the end of the story played out juxtaposed with the beginning, you can get real twinges of regret and recrimination, alongside joy and excitement. But by the cast always being separate, performing 'he said/she said' musical solos, you lose any hint of chemistry or personal connections. Being someone who adores a personal connection, I found the lack of it made the show hard to embrace as a whole.
But, I did enjoy myself. The score is really terrific, with many themes and motifs played throughout, and all of the songs are really grand character showpieces. The melodies are lovely and the lyrics are smart and pointed. I enjoyed seeing clues being played out as the piece moved forward (or backward, as the case may be). The performers, Betsy Wolfe and Adam Kantor, are both first-rate and the physical production is gorgeous. I also adored the orchestra and the orchestrations - I can't imagine getting a better sound, musically, than I heard last night. Finally, I think Jason Robert Brown, as the director, has directed smoothly and empathetically. He also seems to have found a middle ground where you can identify with both characters.
At least, I empathized with both characters, though a lot of the reviews say the show skews heavily towards Jamie's point of view. I guess I can see that, but, interestingly, I didn't feel that way. I blamed, and felt sorry for, both characters relatively equally. Though it seemed as if some of the character traits that Cathy sang about came through in Jamie's actions, but not all of the character traits Jamie mentioned were ever really seen. Does that even make sense? lol But I thought both actors created completely real and sympathetic (yet not) characters. And they knocked their songs out of the park.
I'll admit, though, that my mind wandered a bit throughout, because it can be tiring to hear musical monologue after musical monologue, no matter how well they're written and performed, but there were also occasions when my heartrate quickened and I could feel anticipation for what was coming. I also got quite teary during "Nobody Needs to Know," which I completely didn't expect. So thumbs up from me, even if I may have appreciated the production more than truly loved it, but that could be my personal prejudice of wanting to see more of a connection between the two characters. Of course, then it would be a different show...
On the audience/seat neighbor front, I may have had the worst seat next-door neighbor ever. Well, she didn't smell like sauerkraut, but still...The show started at 7 - the seat next to me was empty. After the second number, the seat got filled by a person so annoying, I almost yelled at her at one point. First, it took her almost one complete song to actually get into her seat (I pitied the gal behind her). Then, it took her almost one more complete song to take off her coat. Then she put her bag on the floor. Then she picked it up. Then she leaned it on my lap so she could dig around for her water bottle. Then it took her almost a whole song to open her water bottle and drink from it. She dropped her coat, she picked up her coat. She kicked me. She leaned forward, she leaned back, she leaned from side to side. And I don't think she was moving out of boredom or out of rapture about the show. She just had no sense of anyone else in her universe. Truly, she didn't sit still for one solitary second and she drove me bananas. I could tell when I was particularly engaged by the show, because I finally didn't notice her shenanigans. I don't know if she was incapable of sitting still, but that doesn't negate the annoyingness of it. Ugh, it was so frustrating.
Several other audience members had no concept of the 'five block rule,' and they started trashing the show immediately after. I hate that. Wait until you're outside, for pete's sake!!! And as I was making my way out of the theater, I heard the gal behind me get on her cell phone to ask the person on the other end, 'so part of the show was backwards? you wanted me to figure that out by myself?' That takes breaking the 'five block rule' to a whole other level - calling someone, while you're still in the theater, to ask what the show was about. Wow. Though I did call a friend in the middle of the first Scream movie to find out who the killer was, because I couldn't stand to watch it one more minute. But I did that in my own home, not in the theater. Geez, people.
Deep breath. OK, let's end on a happier note. I can't wait to see what Jason Robert Brown brings us next! I'm suspicious about The Bridges of Madison County, but the movie surprised me and I'm fully prepared (and ready) to be surprised again.
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