THEATER REVIEW: The Last Five Years at Berkshire Theatre Festival
Theater
By Chris Newbound
A Berkshire Theatre Festival Production of a musical written and composed by Jason Robert Brown, directed by Anders Cato, musical direction by Rick Bertone
Jamie Wellerstein Paul Anthony Stewart
Catherine Hiatt Julie Reiber
It’s an interesting contrast to see in the space of a week Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, which is currently playing at Barrington Stage Company, and Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years, now playing at Berkshire Theatre Festival in Stockbridge. On the surface the two works couldn’t seem more different, one a sprawling, historical, populated musical (Sweeney), the other an intimate, contemporary, two-character musical (The Last Five Years). But, in fact, there are actually some rather interesting similarities—both, for instance, are tragic, blatantly avoiding the usual happy ending of most musicals; both tipping their hands quite early that this will be the case. It’s not an instance of whether or not these two musicals will end happily, but more how will they end unhappily, and just how unhappily are we talking about? Spoiler alert: Pretty unhappily.
Like Sondheim’s brilliant go-for-broke Sweeney Todd, Jason Robert Brown takes an enormous risk as well, almost perversely? creating this problem for himself that he must then try and solve—having to follow the uncompromising rules of his structure.
Simply put, the musical tells the story of a single romantic relationship between a young novelist, Jamie Wellerstein (around twenty-four when the story begins), and aspiring actress Catherine Hiatt, that almost entirely takes place in present day New York City. But the five-year relationship is told from each character’s point of view: Jamie’s perspective moves forward, from optimistic first meeting to end of relationship, while Catherine’s travels backward in time, beginning with the couple’s sad breakup and moving toward their same first meeting. As if this weren’t challenging enough, the two characters only briefly intersect, right in the middle, of course, for the eighth song, “The Next Ten Minutes.”
The romance’s progression, and/or regression, is told almost completely in song, with each of them taking turns like tennis players trying to hold serve. Their inability to connect, quite literally, during the ninety minutes on stage obviously reflects their alienation that they and, perhaps, most feel in any relationship: the sense of being with someone and yet always fundamentally being alone as well.
It’s an intriguing premise that mostly works, but one is left wondering what the composer has gained and what he has lost in following through on this rather difficult homework assignment he’s set up for himself. But while the drama desk winning show that premiered in Chicago in 2001 and then went on to an off-Broadway production from there won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, it’s certainly well worth seeing. The songs, plus the stand-out performances make for an interesting, lively cabaret that is probably worth the price of admission alone. But there is definitely a lot more going on here as well. Audiences will feel either challenged or engaged to fill in the holes. And there is much that feels interior rather than exterior, much that is not being revealed, a strange feeling indeed when watching a piece of theater, particularly a musical.
What we do know is that while Jamie’s career as novelist is taking off, Catherine’s as an actress seems to be treading water. Trouble arrives when Catherine’s increasing unhappiness and jealousy combine with Jamie’s narcissism and obsession about his work, with Jaime coming off as the more sympathetic of the two. In “I Could Never Rescue You,” Jamie’s frustration and ultimate resignation that he will never be able to make Catherine happy is poignantly expressed.
Both performances are stellar but again the edge must go to Paul Anthony Stewart as Jamie who seems to be channeling Billy Crystal at times, particularly during the more comedic moments of the show. Julie Reiber, fresh from Broadway and Los Angeles productions as Elphaba in Wicked, certainly has the pipes and the dramatic chops, too, to pull off her most poignant, defeated moments, and if she’s at a slight disadvantage it’s mostly to do with the character of Catherine being a bit less defined than Jamie's, a fault of Brown's writing and not the acting.
Anders Cato’s staging, the lighting, the set, an austere white room with no doors, the four-piece orchestra that sits at the rear of the action on stage are all elegant and first-rate and at approximately ninety minutes with no intermission the show certainly moves. If there’s one small quibble with the production itself it’s with the costumes, or rather the lack of them: Reiber, a very attractive actress, wears an extremely unflattering tent-like green dress throughout, and Jamie’s casual attire could perhaps vary a little more?
The great and now-revered Sondheim took his share of risks and certainly received his critical and commercial lumps along the way. Some would say that he almost always swung for the fences and more than occasionally missed and yet even in his more problematic works (Into the Woods, Sunday in the Park With George, and even Company, three shows that come to mind that had at least as many detractors as fans), there was always something more interesting about a show of Sondheim’s than most others. So, too, is the case with this young, incredibly talented composer, writer, Jason Robert Brown. While the The Last Five Years may never quite deliver a knockout punch, it can still float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. [June 27, 2010]
Sets, Lee Savage; costumes, Laurie Churba Kohn; lighting, Jeff Davis; sound, Janie Bullard; production stage manager, Jason Hindelang; movement consultant, Rachael Plaine. Runs through July 10. Running time: approximately 90 minutes, no intermission
[Photo of (left to right) Julie Reiber and Paul Anthony Stewart courtesy BTF]
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