2008 Woodie Awards
Musical 'The Last 5 Years' Proves a "Labor of Love"
Sarah Dyer
Issue date: 4/22/05 Section: Arts & Features
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It's not everyday you see a performance comprised of only two actors; it's even less often that you see a performance where the two actors only directly interact with each other in one scene. Seniors Matthew Brogan and Rebecca Spiro have been talking about performing Jason Robert Brown's musical The Last 5 Years for, well, at least the last three years. Finally, this year, after witnessing the talent of junior pianist Chris Lawnsby, the trio decided it was time to make it happen.
Chronicling the relationship of Cathy Hyatt (Spiro) and Jamie Wallerstein (Brogan), the story unfolds with a chronologically unique and jolting twist. It follows Cathy from the end of their relationship to the beginning and, inversely, follows Jamie from the beginning of their relationship to the end. The opening scene shows a morose Cathy tearfully bemoaning the end of her and Jamie's relationship, singing, "Still Hurting." The bleak mood is abruptly curtailed when Jamie explodes onto the scene ebulliently singing of this great new "Shiksa Goddess" he has just met (Cathy).
The bittersweet tension evoked by these polarized moments is maintained throughout the play as the situation gradually gets better for Cathy, as she goes back in time, and quickly gets worse for Jamie as he goes forward in time. Of this remarkable tension, Brogan comments, "In each scene, we have to convince our audience to feel something completely different than the one before - some of the saddest moments are back to back with the happiest. The brilliance really lies in the fact that the facts of the story are laid out from the beginning, so the performance becomes about how these characters get there."
Though the audience clearly knows the end at the very first scene, one remains captivated as the details of the troubled relationship are fleshed out song by song. The stark contrast of Jamie's career success as a novelist to Cathy's painful struggle to make it as a performer manifests one of the key sources of contention. The situation is complicated both by Cathy's envy of Jamie's advent into the glamorous world of beautiful desiring women and fame and by Jamie's persistent encouraging for Cathy to wholeheartedly pursue her goals. Jamie sings, "I will not fail so you can be comfortable, Cathy, I will not lose so you can win." It is moments like these, of raw and piercing truth that will move and captivate the audience; it is here that Brogan and Spiro will really cut the audience to the core with their unbelievable presence and veracity. Of these moments, Spiro remarks, "There are some things in this play that are really harsh. There are some sentiments that are expressed in this play that are very brutal and there are also some really wonderful moments of beautiful honesty, of real love."
Chronicling the relationship of Cathy Hyatt (Spiro) and Jamie Wallerstein (Brogan), the story unfolds with a chronologically unique and jolting twist. It follows Cathy from the end of their relationship to the beginning and, inversely, follows Jamie from the beginning of their relationship to the end. The opening scene shows a morose Cathy tearfully bemoaning the end of her and Jamie's relationship, singing, "Still Hurting." The bleak mood is abruptly curtailed when Jamie explodes onto the scene ebulliently singing of this great new "Shiksa Goddess" he has just met (Cathy).
The bittersweet tension evoked by these polarized moments is maintained throughout the play as the situation gradually gets better for Cathy, as she goes back in time, and quickly gets worse for Jamie as he goes forward in time. Of this remarkable tension, Brogan comments, "In each scene, we have to convince our audience to feel something completely different than the one before - some of the saddest moments are back to back with the happiest. The brilliance really lies in the fact that the facts of the story are laid out from the beginning, so the performance becomes about how these characters get there."
Though the audience clearly knows the end at the very first scene, one remains captivated as the details of the troubled relationship are fleshed out song by song. The stark contrast of Jamie's career success as a novelist to Cathy's painful struggle to make it as a performer manifests one of the key sources of contention. The situation is complicated both by Cathy's envy of Jamie's advent into the glamorous world of beautiful desiring women and fame and by Jamie's persistent encouraging for Cathy to wholeheartedly pursue her goals. Jamie sings, "I will not fail so you can be comfortable, Cathy, I will not lose so you can win." It is moments like these, of raw and piercing truth that will move and captivate the audience; it is here that Brogan and Spiro will really cut the audience to the core with their unbelievable presence and veracity. Of these moments, Spiro remarks, "There are some things in this play that are really harsh. There are some sentiments that are expressed in this play that are very brutal and there are also some really wonderful moments of beautiful honesty, of real love."