“The Last Five Years” is physically a small show — just two actors — but it covers a large amount of psychological and emotional territory. Written by Jason Robert Brown, this co-production of Limelight Theatre and 1st Stage is about two people in their 20s explaining how their marriage came to an end.
If you go
“The Last Five Years”
Where: 1st Stage, 1524 Spring Hill Road, McLean
When: Opens May 7; 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; 7 p.m. Sunday
Info: $20 to $30; 1ststagespinghill.org
Where this musical differs from other shows about unraveled relationships is that the process of falling in and out of love is described in two very different time lines. The young man, Jamie (John Loughney), tells his story as it happened, from beginning to end. The young woman, Cathy (Carolyn Myers) tells her story as she remembers it, from end to beginning This is not a gimmick. It’s a clever dramatic technique underscoring important differences in two people who start out thinking they’re made for each other and wind up going their separate ways.
Jamie is a straight-ahead person, driven to succeed as a writer, perhaps more dedicated to his career than to his wife. Cathy is more reflective, an actress who also wants to succeed and doesn’t want to simply depend on a man. But her desire to do well at her craft seems tempered by her need to find happiness with a mate. Once he’s found fame, Jamie doesn’t seem to have the same need.
Brown’s music and lyrics for “The Last Five Years” are incredibly complex, drawing on a broad range of styles: pop, classical, jazz, rock, even a bit of klezmer music. “The Last Five Years” contains ever-changing rhythms and sudden key shifts. Louchney and Myers are both first-rate singers and easily handle that complexity. Musical director Jeffry Newberger and his five instrumentalists deliver Brown’s filigreed score with clarity.
Brown refuses to neatly identify reasons for the breakup. Unless you’re satisfied with “stuff happens” you may want a little more explanation. It can’t be Jamie’s rapid climb to success and glory; that’s too easy for such a sophisticated work. The book is deliberately abstract, suggesting that in this musical, as in life, concrete answers simply may not be available.
Director Jay D. Brock keeps the action moving rapidly from song to song, with only a single duet and one spoken passage. Though Cathy and Jamie proclaim their love throughout “The Last Five Years,” they do it separately, at different times. It’s a distancing technique that concisely emphasizes the couple’s separation. One of the most poignant touches is the way the production begins and ends, with Cathy and Jamie waltzing back to back, a touching comment on their graceful wedding dance.
