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Regional Reviews: Phoenix The Last Five Years
Also see Gil's review of Super Cowgirl and Mighty Miracle
Writer Jamie and actress Cathy are your typical young, artsy and aspiring New York couple. Both in their twenties, he's a writer, who finds success fairly quickly; she's a struggling actress. Over the five year period of the show we see them meet, fall in love, fight a little, have some touching moments together, get married, squabble, fall out of love and ultimately separate. The theatrical gimmick of the piece is that, at the beginning of the show, Cathy is shown at the end of the relationship, hurting and heartbroken, and moves backward in time to their first date, while Jamie starts at the very beginning of the relationship, eager and feeling he has finally met the girl of his dreams, and moves forward through all the pressures and struggles of their lives to the end with him ultimately moving out of their apartment. Jason Robert Brown has composed some lovely songs for the show, with ingenious lyrics and varied compositions throughout. The idea to show their relationship in this time bending way, coupled with the excellent score, works for the most part, with a few exceptions. With the two characters in alternating scenes moving through time in different directions, they basically resemble two ships passing in the night, only meeting at the middle of the 90 minute show on the duet, "The Next Ten Minutes" which takes place at their wedding. With this limited connection between the two characters, the score comes across as a series of 15 exceptionally crafted "story" songs that just happen to involve the same two characters. Since the part of Jamie is based on Brown's life, and even though we see Jamie do many things wrong in this relationship, including at least having one indiscretion, Jamie still manages to come across as the more positive character, which is a bit unfortunate. While Cathy is painted as weak and more focused on Jamie's obsession with his career, she is more the victim here, depressed, upset and heartbroken for almost the entire piece, while Jamie gets more of the up-beat, comical moments that make him come across as more concerned, caring and trying to make the relationship work. And since there is minimal connection between the two characters on stage, we don't quite get the attraction and connection that brought them together or exactly understand what it was that tore them apart. But with fifteen soaring songs and two identifiable characters, the missteps of the show somehow fall away when we get to the end of the piece and its heartbreaking conclusion. With animated hands and wide expressions, Jimmy Shoffman does a lovely job in portraying Jamie. We feel his excitement at meeting Cathy and in finding an agent to publish his book but also the confusion and hurt he feels later when Cathy doesn't share the same feelings he does for his quick success. While, at the performance I attended, Shoffman pushed a bit too much in the very beginning, overacting a little, he quickly settled into the role and has the vocal chops to move effortlessly around the tricky score. Jamie is smug and somewhat self-centered yet still cares for Cathy and we clearly get that from Shoffman's portrayal. Leigh Treat's take on Cathy is equally impressive, with sensitive eyes and perfectly played emotions, though she struggles a bit with a couple of the songs on the high end of the register, with the more belty parts of a few of her songs quivering slightly and a bit off key. Fortunately, she has plenty of power and energy which she brings to her songs, which are even more difficult to sing than Jamie's, and has no problem in showing us both the sensitive and comical parts of Cathy. I especially liked the "Climbing Uphill" audition scene that gives Treat a nice sequence to show Cathy's humorous side. She also does a nice job in clearly showing us that Cathy really isn't a great actress, which makes us better understand the struggle she has with Jamie's quick success. Director Andrew Lipman makes good use of the small and somewhat cramped stage. With a four piece band taking up about 1/4 of the space it doesn't leave much room for Shoffman and Treat to maneuver. In fact a few times it seems like Shoffman is coming very close to bumping into the guitarist. However, Lipman provides a nice stylish take on the story, giving us plenty to latch onto that connects the two characters' stories by using props that are used by each character at different points in the show to portray the same time period—for example, Cathy in the opening moments twirling Jamie's wedding ring while at a table and then having Jamie leave his ring on that table at the end of the show. I also liked how in "Next Ten Minutes" he uses the steps that go to the upper platform as a way to portray Cathy walking down the aisle. While Lipman manages nice layered performances from the actors and the overall result is impressive, there are a couple of directorial missteps. In Jamie's major story song, "The Schmuel Song," set during Jamie and Cathy's first Christmas together, he tells the story of a tailor and a clock that turns back time. Lipman stages that song by having Jamie make matzo ball soup while he's singing it. Having him cutting up vegetables and rolling the matzo balls, while interesting, adds a considerable amount of distraction from the song and takes the focus away from the lyrics, which are important since they refer to the time element of the show. The song usually ends with Jamie giving Cathy a watch as a present, in direct correlation to the clock in the song, but Lipman eliminates the watch as well as the other gifts Jamie sings about giving her, which also take away from the song, replacing them with Jamie proposing to Cathy instead. The various props and set pieces for the soup making also take too much time to get on and off the stage. And, while I like part of the staging for the song "The Next Ten Minutes," that scene is supposed to take place in Central Park with Jamie and Cathy looking at the various buildings that surround them, but here there is no indication of where they are. A simple projection of Central Park or better use of hand gestures would have added to that song. He also stages several scenes on the center floor of the stage which make it extremely hard for anyone who isn't in the front row to see what is happening. But those are just a few small quibbles as overall Lipman's assured direction succeeds. Music director Alexander R. Tom expertly manages the small band that includes Tom on piano, Clarice Collins on violin, Alexander Duke on cello and Katie Sample on guitar. All four of them contribute nice solos and skilled playing throughout. Brett Aiken's set design includes the aforementioned elevated platform, which adds a nice playing area over the band. He also uses several copies of various sizes of the famous Salvador Dalí painting "The Persistence of Memory," which shows a melting pocket watch, including having Cathy use a picnic blanket in one scene that has the painting on it. While this is a nice touch, adding to the bending time element of the show, it is also somewhat confusing, especially with the absence of the pocket watch in "The Schmuel Song;" and the large angled floor mounted version of the painting, which Jamie and Cathy stand on several times, doesn't really connect with the story or explain why they are standing on that set piece when they do. Tamara Treat's costumes are perfect and abundant, with the characters wearing several different costumes throughout to show the changing times. Lindsey Ihrig's lighting design is effective, though there were some missed cues at the performance I attended which left the actors briefly in the dark. Since the two characters barely interact, Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years is a slightly confusing story to tell and a challenging show to sing, but still a rewarding theatrical journey to take. The Desert Stages production has good direction, great musical direction and fine actors playing both parts, with Jimmy Shoffman especially exceptional as Jamie. If you're a fan of contemporary and serious Off-Broadway musicals, or of musicals with intricate songs that tell stories, even with a few small quibbles, there is much to like in The Last Five Years at Desert Stages Theatre. The Desert Stages production of The Last Five Years runs through May 18th with performances at 4720 N. Scottsdale Road in Scottsdale. Tickets are available at www.DesertStages.org or by phone at (480) 483-1664 Director: Andrew Lipman
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