By Jack Craib, New Rep Reviewer
New Rep’s production of “The Last Five Years”, Jason Robert Brown’s self-described “personal, not autobiographical” 2001 examination of the relationship between two artists, is a searing and soaring musical. It proved him a triple threat, as he was responsible for the music, lyrics, and, atypical for a composer outside of opera, his own orchestrations. Yet when it opened off Broadway, despite a Drama Desk award for Best Lyrics and Music and a handful of other nominations, it lasted just two months. Two years prior, Brown had won a Tony Award for “Parade” (for which he also wrote the music and lyrics) which also won Best Musical. The disappointing reception to “The Last Five Years” was inexplicable, except perhaps for its back story.
Before “The Last Five Years” was to open (at Lincoln Center), Brown’s ex-wife declared it way too autobiographical and personal, necessitating some basic changes to the plot and the substitution of a song. Meanwhile, the planned opening on Broadway was delayed, and the first production in New York (after a Chicago tryout) was at an Off-Broadway theater in its present form, with two future megastars, Norbert Leo Butz and Sherie Rene Scott. Even with two actors in their prime, the work never caught on, but has become a bit of a cult musical with numerous productions throughout the country as well as overseas. A fine version was done in the Boston area, not long after its New York premiere, by SpeakEasy Stage Company.
It’s an intense and absorbing work of theater, requiring a great deal of focus. As such, the choice of the Black Box Theater as a venue was a smart one, as is the New Rep’s set design. Since the plot evolves from the points of view of two characters, the stage is at the center of the house, with audience members sitting on opposing sides. The action takes place within a stunning fragmented Chagall-like globe, thanks to the brilliant creative vision of scenic designer Cristina Todesco. The taut direction by Jim Petosa avoids the pitfalls of typical theater in the round as much as humanly possible without making the audience dizzy from the necessary stage movement. (Some may recall, as does this reviewer, the halcyon days of the Carousel Theater in Framingham some decades ago with the players’ frantic efforts to keep from upstaging themselves for half the audience at a time).
The story is told forward by Jamie (Mark Linehan, in his New Rep debut) and backward by Cathy (Aimee Doherty, familiar to New Rep audiences from several previous productions). They meet onstage midway for a wedding song, the only appearance of an ampersand. Here they are referred to as “Jamie & Cathy”, as opposed to all the other numbers which are either solos or presented as separate antiphonies (“Jamie/Cathy” and “Cathy/Jamie”). This could be seen as a mere gimmick in lesser hands, but Brown manages to keep the two story lines involving and coherent. Not since Sondheim‘s “Merrily We Roll Along” has a work toyed so successfully with time.
The varied score includes elements of pop, jazz, rock, folk, classical, and even Latin and Klezmer influences, and is well served by both leads as well as by the excellent contributions from the five piece orchestra led by Todd C. Gordon. Linehan has the easier task with a logical progression from boyish excitement to maturing disillusionment, while Doherty must progress from mutual marital disconnection to the recapturing of their initial attraction and exuberance. It doesn’t hurt that each can hold her and his own with a demanding range of vocal challenges while remaining totally in character.
“The Last Five Years” in its New Rep incarnation would appear to have made more converts to the work. As the final production of the current season nears, (yet another very personal musical, “Passing Strange”), theatergoers can look forward with renewed interest to the New Rep’s next five years, and what that legacy will hold.
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