[NEohioPAL] Review of "The Last 5 Years" at CVLT

[Bob Abelman]

CVLT's 'The Last Five Years' is time well spent

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review appeared in the News-Herald on 11/5/10

 

The Chagrin Valley Little Theater production of Jason Robert Brown's intensely personal musical The Last Five Years is simply wonderful.

 

The operative word is "simply."  

 

At the heart of The Last Five Years is a simple story about a singular event: The failed marriage between Cathy, a young, aspiring but unaccomplished New York actress, and Jamie, a highly successful novelist.  

 

The play begins with Cathy at the depressing end of the relationship and Jamie at its joyful beginning.  As the play progresses, their respective timelines converge, cross, and once again careen in opposite directions, leaving Cathy at the conception of the relationship and Jamie at its conclusion as the lights fade to black.  

 

Only two performers take to the stage in this play, and there is no interplay or physical exchange between them.  They are alone in life and in the footlights, impacted by but disconnected from the other and licking their wounded souls.

 

This slice-of-life story is told exclusively through songs that runs the gamut in range, tempo and temperament, and each musical number an intricate and strenuous vocal calisthenic.  

 

Some productions of The Last Five Years tend to overemphasize the dysfunction between Cathy and Jamie, turning the play into an awkward and unnerving couple's therapy session with the door ajar and the audience invited to eavesdrop.  Other productions merely showcase the marvelous music while ignoring the poignancy of their lyrics, turning vocal calisthenics into Olympic events.

 

This play simply does not work if the audience feels like a voyeur or feels nothing at all. 

 

The CVLT production keeps things honest and simple, resulting in a moving evening of disclosure and discovery.   This is not easy to achieve.

 

In order for the audience to invest in Cathy and Jamie and care about the demise of their relationship, the production requires actors who are immediately likable despite their characters' unpleasant attributes-his raging ego and her debilitating insecurities, for example.

 

It requires singers who can deliver Jason Robert Brown's songs without straining themselves vocally and emotionally.

 

It requires performers comfortable enough in their own skin to stand alone and exposed during this one-act, 90-minute production.

 

Andrew Rothman and Rebecca Marks possess these qualities.

 

Marks wins over the audience upon uttering her first lines of lament over the failed marriage.  Her "Jamie is over and Jamie is gone/Jamie's decided it's time to move on," in the song "Still Hurting," is profoundly heart-wrenching and absolutely beautiful.  She does devastation remarkably well, but also handles her humorous songs with finesse and charm.  

 

Rothman's boyish jubilation and full-bodied grin at the start of the show is endearing, but it is his talent as an actor and singer that endures from the beginning to the end (or the end to the beginning) of this play.   He is remarkably comfortable and commanding on stage, which translates into a captivating performance.  

 

Having previously directed this play at the Weathervane Playhouse and, more recently, at TrueNorth Cultural Arts, Jacqi Loewy does an outstanding job adjusting to the overtly intimate arena that is the River Street Playhouse.  With its tiny performance space and seating an arm's length from the stage, it is difficult to create the impression that the characters are operating in isolation.  This is achieved through creative staging, minimalistic set design and effective lighting.  

 

Dan Kamionkowski, on piano at center stage, offers superb accompaniment to the performers.   Still, this music cries out for additional strings-a cello or a violin or both.  Rothman and Marks deserve something more substantial to complement their performances.

 

 The Last Five Years is a bittersweet piece of contemporary musical theater.  The CVLT production of it is simply wonderful.

 

The Last Five Years continues through November 13 at the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre's River Street Playhouse in Chagrin Falls.  For tickets, which are $10, call 440-247-8955 or visit www.cvlt.org.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.neohiopal.org/pipermail/neohiopal-neohiopal.org/attachments/20101105/99c8c400/attachment-0003.htm>