The Last Five Years


The Last Five Years is a musical written by Jason Robert Brown. It premiered at Chicago's Northlight Theatre in 2001 and was then produced Off-Broadway in March 2002. Since then it has had numerous productions both in the United States and internationally.
The story explores a five-year relationship between Jamie Wellerstein, a rising novelist, and Cathy Hiatt, a struggling actress. The show uses a form of storytelling in which Cathy's story is told in reverse chronological order, and Jamie's is told in chronological order. The characters do not directly interact except for a wedding song in the middle as their timelines intersect.

Inspiration

The Last Five Years was inspired by Brown's failed marriage to Theresa O'Neill. O'Neill sued Brown on the grounds that the story of the musical violated non-disparagement and non-disclosure agreements within their divorce decree by representing her relationship with Brown too closely. Brown, in turn, sued O’Neill for interfering with his creative work and his creative process. As part of the legal settlement for both suits, Brown removed all references to the character being Irish Catholic, and changed the song "I Could Be in Love With Someone Like You" to "Shiksa Goddess" in order to reduce the similarity between the character, Cathy, and O'Neill.

Synopsis

Cathy is sitting alone lamenting the end of her marriage. We shift to meet Jamie. It is five years earlier and he has just met Cathy. Jamie is overjoyed to be dating outside his Jewish heritage.
Cathy and Jamie are in Ohio. It is her birthday and he has come to visit her as she works in a show there. She is anxious to fix any problems in their marriage but she becomes angry when Jamie tells her he has to go back early to New York. During breaks in the music, we see a younger Jamie, talking to a literary agent about his book.
Jamie is moving in with Cathy. He comments on how lucky he is that everything is going right for him; his book is being published and his life with Cathy seems too good to be true. Elsewhere an older Cathy is making a call to her agent: it seems her career isn't going the way she planned it.
Cathy is attending Jamie's book party. She sings about how he ignores her for his writing but she will always be in love with him.
Jamie and Cathy celebrate their second Christmas. He tells her a new story he has written about an old tailor named Schmuel and he gives her a Christmas present: a watch, promising to support her as she follows her dreams of acting..
Cathy is in Ohio and writing to Jamie. She describes to Jamie her disappointing life in Ohio among her eccentric colleagues.
Jamie is sitting with Cathy in Central Park. Jamie proposes to her and, for the first time in the musical, they sing together. They get married, exchanging vows to stay together forever.
Jamie is facing temptation from other women, especially now his career as a writer has escalated. Cathy, meanwhile, is auditioning for a role. She is getting down about the rejection she faces as an actress and complains to Jamie.
Jamie speaks to Cathy on the phone, trying to convince her that there is nothing going on with him and his editor, Elise. He wants to celebrate a book review but Cathy refuses to go out.
Jamie is fighting with Cathy, trying to get her to listen to him. He accuses her of being unsupportive of his career just because hers is failing. Though his words are harsh, he promises her that he believes in her.
A younger Cathy is in the car with Jamie, who is going to meet her parents. She tells him about her past relationships and hopes not to end up in a small town life like her friend from high school. She asks Jamie to move in with her.
Near the end of the relationship Jamie wakes up beside another woman. He tries to defend his actions and blames Cathy for destroying his privacy and their relationship. Jamie promises not to lie to this woman and tells her that "I could be in love with someone like you," just as he does to Cathy in "Shiksa Goddess."
Cathy is ecstatic after her first date with Jamie. She sings goodbye. She proclaims that she has been waiting for Jamie her whole life. Simultaneously but five years forward, Jamie sits in their shared apartment writing laments over the relationship. As Cathy waves Jamie "goodbye until tomorrow", Jamie wishes Cathy simply "goodbye".

Music

The musical style draws on a number of musical genres, including pop, jazz, and classical, klezmer, Latin, Rock, and Folk. The orchestration consists of piano, acoustic guitar, fretless bass, two cellos, one doubling on celesta and tubular bell, and violin, doubling cymbal.
The Last Five Years cast album was released by Sh-K-Boom Records in April 2002.

Original casts

Production history

Original Chicago production

The show debuted at in Skokie, Illinois in 2001, running from May–July 1. The production starred Lauren Kennedy as Cathy and Norbert Leo Butz as Jamie. Kennedy had a previous commitment and was replaced by Sherie Rene Scott. Scott, therefore, performed the vocals on the cast recording.

Off-Broadway

The show opened Off-Broadway at the Minetta Theatre on March 2, 2002 and closed May 5, 2002, directed by Daisy Prince, with Butz and Scott again starring. The production won the 2002 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music and Lyrics, as well as receiving Drama Desk nominations for Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Actor, Outstanding Actress, Outstanding Orchestrations, and Outstanding Set Design. It also received the Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Outstanding Musical and Outstanding Actor, and the Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for Outstanding Off-Broadway Musical.

Off-Broadway revival

The show was revived in 2013 Off-Broadway at the Second Stage Theatre for a limited engagement with Adam Kantor and Betsy Wolfe in the roles of Jamie and Cathy, respectively. Brown himself directed. In March 2015, Kantor and Wolfe reprised their roles in a two-night-only concert production of the show at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco.

European Premieres

The show premiered in Paris, France in 2013 presented by American Musical Theatre Live featuring Jonathan Wagner as Jamie and Miranda Crispin as Cathy.
The show was given its Northern Irish premiere at The Lyric Theatre, Belfast in 2015, running for a limited engagement. It starred Fra Fee as Jamie and Amy Lennox as Cathy. The production was directed by Stephen Whitson.
The show premiered in Stockholm, Sweden at in April 2018. It starred Emil Nyström as Jamie and Cilla Silvia as Cathy. The production was directed by Robin Karlsson, with music direction by Johan Mörk.
There will be a premiere of the show in Basel, Switzerland presented by in June 2019.

In Concert

On September 12, 2016, Jason Robert Brown, along with SubCulture, presented a one night only benefit for the Brady Center to prevent gun violence. The Town Hall in New York City hosted this event. Cynthia Erivo played Cathy and Joshua Henry played Jamie. Jason Robert Brown conducted the orchestra.

London

On October 29, 2016, Samantha Barks and Jonathan Bailey took on the roles of Cathy and Jamie at the St. James Theatre.
The musical plays at the Southwark Playhouse from February 2020, ending on 28 March 2020, with direction by Jonathan O'Boyle and starring Molly Lynch and Oli Higginson. The production received overwhelmingly positive reviews. WhatsOnStage writes "You won't have seen a better production of The Last Five Years... It is the definitive production - beg, borrow or steal a ticket". Tim Bano, joint lead critic for The Stage, wrote "Higginson and Lynch are insanely good" and praised O'Boyle's "forensic" interrogation of the material, writing "He doesn't reinvent Brown's material, but does completely revitalise it, so that it's like seeing the show, thrillingly, for the first time". The production featured new orchestrations by George Dyer. The show was nominated for 8 Off-West End Awards including for Lead Performance in a Musical for both Lynch and Higginson respectively, O'Boyle for Best Director, Dyer for Musical Direction, and Lee Newby for both Costume Design and Set Design. The run was cut short on March 18 due to the closing of theatres because of the coronavirus pandemic.

[Syracuse Stage]

In June 2019, the musical was directed by Jason Alexander in a production in Syracuse, New York. Alexander introduced two dancers who shadow the characters of Jamie and Cathy; reviewer Linda Lowen wrote "With approval from Brown, Alexander's vision has resulted in a production more interactive, more compelling, more visual, and more suited to those twenty-something millennials who -- like Jamie and Cathy -- grapple with love, career, independence and commitment."

Film adaptation

An adaptation starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan was directed by PS, I Love You director Richard LaGravenese. The film premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, and had a limited release in theatres in 2015. It received mixed to positive reviews.