| The Last Five Years |
|
The Last Five Years One Theatre Company I have often heard musical-theatre-haters say something along the lines of “I don’t like musicals because in real life people don’t all of a sudden start singing.” (Of course, these are the same people that have no problem watching movies where little boys can see dead people.) I do have to admit, though, that there is some validity to this point. So, then, why are musicals still so popular? In my opinion, the answer mostly lies in the fact that musicalizing a thought elevates the emotions of a scene much more than the spoken word can. For example, if in West Side Story, after Tony first meets Maria, Tony simply spoke the words “I just met a girl named Maria”, one might sarcastically reply “yeah, and your point is?”. But thankfully Tony instead sings this same line, and through this song we can truly hear and feel the soaring excitement and bursting joy Tony has for Maria. So where am I going with this? Read on… The Last Five Years is a musical that chronicles the bumpy five-year relationship of Cathy (Diane Mair) and Jamie (Andrew Weir). The interesting twist to this work lies in the fact that the female role, Cathy, starts her story at the end of the relationship as it’s falling apart, working backwards from that point; Jamie starts at the beginning of the relationship, working forward. Though intriguing, the problem I have with this concept is that it tends to nullify my reasoning for the positive existence of the musical: without the context of plot surrounding the songs, the emotions surrounding the scene are not elevated near as much as they could be. So when the female character, Cathy, sings to us that their relationship has left her covered with emotional scars that she didn’t earn, we have no idea what she’s talking about and are left confused rather than empathetic (indeed, she even comes across as whiny). It’s no surprise, then, that the most compelling and emotionally-moving scene occurs in the middle of the play, when the characters are briefly in real time with each other. But in spite of all of my unease with the construct of The Last Five Years, I still find this an enjoyable play because of this fact: the music is completely mesmerizing. The composer/lyricist Jason Robert Brown, who also wrote Parade and Songs for a New World, is the hippest new musical theatre composer out there. His music is full of rich harmonies and refreshing syncopations. His lyrics never sound forced or superfluous. Adding to this, the composer chose stunning and unconventional orchestrations for his show by adding two cellos and a violin to the more-conventional piano, bass and drums. The performances are exemplary throughout most of the play, especially the innocent energy portrayed by Andrew Weir. Both actors have great voices, though a pitfall occurs in the last half of the show: being that The Last Five Years is almost all music with very little spoken dialogue, it tends to be vocally challenging. Although I give kudos to the musical direction of Kim Beasley for the stellar performance of the orchestra and voices, the aforementioned orchestrations cause a problem in that they are very dense, especially with the thick timbres of the two cellos, often forcing the singers to perform at full volume in order to be heard (and even then they occasionally are drowned out by the instruments). Such over-singing for much of the play is bound to strain one’s voice, and we hear this happen near the end, as Weir’s tenor voice starts flatting on many of the held notes. I sincerely hope that something can be done about this as I worry for the singers’ voices over the entire run. (Possibly bring the volume markings down a notch – e.g., playing medium-forte every time it says forte?) The set is simple yet effective – cardboard boxes are used for the walls and the furniture, no doubt signifying the constant instability and ever-temporary state of the five-year relationship. Rating: 2.5 stars Reviewed by Scotty Zacher |