The Last Five Years

Reviewed by Holly Bartges

The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown has been around a while.

Jamie (Jeffrey Roark) and Kathy (Susan Dawn Carson) get married in a scene from The Last Five Years. Photo by Suzanne Coley

Directed by Stephen J. Lavezza and Gabriella Cavallero with ultimate finesse The Last Five Years opened last Saturday at the Buntport for Modern Muse Theatre Company.

Featuring two extremely talented singer/actors, Susan Dawn Carson and Jeffrey Roark, The Last Five Years is one of the most refreshing, heartbreaking, creative, down-to-earth, realistic romantic, soul-searching musicals ever written.

Backed by a superb combo with Musical Director Scott Martin on the keyboards, Kevin E. Johnson on the cello, and Deborah A. Fuller on the violin platformed center stage enhances the production.

This comes out of Modern Muse Theatre Company who only a couple of weeks ago opened the world premiere of The Raft at the Bug Theatre, along with staged reading of its’ predecessor, Motherload, and will be opening Vigil by Morris Paynch at the Bug Theatre March 10.

The Last Five Years plays with time in a most ingenious way. It is one thing to look back over the developments, redevelopments, curves, and mishaps of a relationship no matter how long, always asking what happened? When? Brown plays “52 Pick Up” with time looking at both sides at the same time.

Fourteen songs tell the story of the five-year relationship from beginning to end, except Carson as Catherine Hiatt begins at the heartbreaking end of the relationship and inches toward the beginning. Roark as Jamie Wellerstein begins at the beginning working his way to the end.

Catherine finds a note Jamie wrote to her. He has to move on, he says, the problem is obviously hers, and she is still hurting. Carson not only sings the hurt, shows the hurt, but also lives the hurt with uncanny realism.

With eyes wide open, a man surrounded by girls, falls head over heels in love with Catherine the minute he sees her in “Shiksa Goddess.” He’s Jewish. She’s not, and that sets his heart and soul into flight.

He’s a writer. She’s an actress. At one time, at the same time they were deeply in love with each other, but careers have a way of biting into the core of even the strongest relationship without being able to tie lose ends together. Fraying comes slowly, but it can come when not recognized. And when it finally reveals its ugly face, it is frequently too late.

Every song sings to a different tempo, with fresh original lyrics to back it up.

Jamie ponders if they are “Movin’ Too Fast.” Catherine recognizes his eagerness for his writing career to take flight, and wonders “I’m A Part of That.”

One of the most delectable songs comes with Jamie who insists first he has to tell a story sliding into “The Schmuel Song;” a gifted story allowing Schmuel to talk to a clock turning backwards, presenting time in a rainbow of colors. Schmuel has time late at night to create a red velvet dress that has sewn into its seams 41 seasons of dreams. And Jamie takes a chance with his heart.

Catherine in a swirl of costumes during a summer in Ohio empowers herself with the truth that “he wants me.” She’s found her muse. “I finally got something right.”

In two hours they live the five years with their hearts on their sleeves for all to see and to experience. Five years gets squeezed into two hours with precise direction, well defined explosive characters who live with love in their eyes, and disappointed expectations in their hands. Jamie can’t be what Catherine needs. Catherine can’t be what Jamie wants.

Photos reflected in the floor in front of the audience were missed by most of the audience because they couldn’t be seen.

Set designed by Adam Rowe providing levels for space and time with a few props offering suggestion, and lighting by Robert Byers to light the way with pointed fantasy hand in glove helped to create the hard core reality.

The song, “Climbing Up Hill,” with Catherine auditioning along with 200 other girls who seemed prettier and thinner than she, all wearing basically the same thing is an amazing piece. Physically she conveyed nerve-wracking auditioning, while she sang out her private thoughts concerning Jamie and their relationship. Fraught with irony, framed in wit, endowed with longing expectation, Carson wonderfully displays the inside of an outside girl.

Roark outlines Jamie’s true feelings that even he seemed surprise at. He gets a rave review on his book. He wants Catherine to read it now. He wants her to drop everything and meet him now. She can’t. She won’t. “Talk to me,” he pleads as she hangs up. With question marks stinging their eyes, they sing, together and apart, “If I hadn’t believed in you, I wouldn’t have loved you at all.”

Unique, charming, heartbreaking, heart wrenching, truthful all at the same time, Modern Muse’s delicate production of The Last Five Years melts and breaks the heart at the same moment.

Time turned upside down goes in both directions at the same time in gentleness, hardness, cruelty, and wonderment, head-over-heels falling in love runs smack up against head over heels falling out of love with the conflict of love and career standing eyeball to eyeball in defiance.

Simply and to the point, a breath-taking production not to be missed.