THE BEGINNING AND THE END
Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years is contextually brilliant: it is a two-character musical that starts at the end of a five year relationship for the woman, but at the beginning for the man. Her songs go backward in time and his forward. In the middle of the 85 minute, intermissionless show, they meet in the middle, which also happens to be their wedding day. This structure allows us to see a relationship from two different perspectives. He is a novelist who rises to notoriety which such rapidity that he is incapable of meeting his wife’s needs. While he schmoozes in literary circles in New York, her dreams of acting lead her to summer stock in Ohio.
They’re perfect for each other. They’re truly in love. But this is real life, which can get in the way of the real thing. We know right off the bat where it is headed and where it all began.
That Mr. Brown manages to capture our hearts is nothing short of a miracle: his songs are engaging, wistful, funny, melancholic and always insightful. With a thorny structure and only two performers, this musical and its many showstoppers are tough to pull off. Yet director Bill Hemmer has guided his two perfectly-cast leads with an affectionate touch. The result is a very lovely evening indeed.
And, really, it all comes down to the actors. The sure-footed Rory Alexander plays Jamie Wellerstein, a Jewish novelist who has found the love of his life, a “Shiksa Goddess” named Cathy, portrayed by the luminescent Ashley Cuillar. Both actors are vocally well-trained, yet there is a sweet sort of rawness to their voices (Alexander sometimes pushes to control his upper register, but he has a fine falsetto). They avoid the trap of yodeling, pop singing, and brassy, bombastic Broadway vibratos. Their acting-based style of singing allows the heart of the piece to shine through.
There are projections behind the simple set of two brownstone stoops that, to be honest, I never really looked at. Some may find them distracting; they certainly do not add dimension to the evening. Lighting designer Matt Richter is talented enough to have created the many moods and settings that the piece calls for.
The Lounge 2 is an incredibly comfortable, well-raked, small space. As such, the always astounding music director/piano player Ron Snyder was smart to minimize the sound — how refreshing it was to have actors un-miked in a small theatre. Although I missed a beefier sound, the band suited the room perfectly: Nancy Kuo on violin, Yuichiro Kevin Asami on guitar and Jay Rubottom on bass.
The only quibble comes not from the production, but the last two songs of the composer’s journey; they just don’t have the magnitude to capture the intensity of both the beginning and end of such a passionate relationship. Still, this is an attractive and charming production, and the intimate space only serves to heighten the vastness of a love gone awry.
photos by Bill Hemmer
The Last Five Years
Bright Eyes Productions
Lounge Theatre 2, 6201 Santa Monica Blvd
ends on July 24, 2011
for tickets, call 323.960.5770 or visit Plays411
for more info, visit Bright Eyes Productions