Review: THE LAST FIVE YEARS at Theatre Harrisburg

Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years premiered in 2001. It appeared Off-Broadway in 2002 after a rewrite of the role of Cathy. The story tells the tale of a novelist, Jamie Wellerstein, and an actress, Cathy Hiatt. This musical is told from Jamie’s perspective in chronological order, while it is told from Cathy’s point of view in reverse order. This unique use of timelines highlights the ways in which people in relationships can see the same thing from two very different perspectives. Audiences can catch this relatable and emotional production at Theatre Harrisburg under the direction of TJ Creedon with assistant director Amal Mahrouki, music director Mitchell Sensenig-Wilshire, stage manager Tessa Arnold, and technical director Curtis Mittong through February 15th.

The set and lighting work together beautifully to assist the audience in following the two different progressions of time and to highlight important elements of each character’s perspective. The sound balance between the singers and the instruments is fantastic. The incredibly talented band, which makes the difficult score sound effortless, features Andrew Vinton (violin), Andrew Jackson (cello 1), Luke Winter (cello 2), Ben Carraher (guitar), Tim Crane (bass), and music director Mitchell Sensenig-Wilshire (keys). The staging is brilliant, perfectly capturing the emotions in each scene.

The cast stars Kayllen Cox as Cathy Hiatt and Joshua Schriver as Jamie Wellerstein. From their first entrance, before a word is even spoken or sung, Cox and Schriver create an engaging atmosphere that drips with emotion. Hiatt’s performance of “Still Hurting” starts the show off just right, her expression and beautiful vocals tug on the heartstrings as the audience experiences Cathy’s pain. “A Summer in Ohio” and “Climbing Uphill” show off Cox’s comedic talents, while “A Part of That” makes Cathy wonderfully relatable to anyone who has felt invisible, unheard, or left behind in a relationship.

Schriver and Cox are well-matched vocally. Their harmonies are spot-on in “The Next Ten Minutes”, and their overlapping vocals on “Goodbye Until Tomorrow” and ”I Could Never Rescue You” create a powerful conclusion to the performance.

Schriver’s performance as Jaime hits all the right notes, vocally and emotionally. The energy of “Moving too Fast” draws the audience into Jaime’s world. “The Schmuel Song” highlights Schriver’s versatility as he changes his voice, posture and movements from moment to moment to portray Schmuel, the clock, and the narrator. This is by far this reviewer’s favorite performance of this song to date. It can be easy to hate the character of Jaime when he cheats on Cathy, but Schriver’s gut-wrenching, conflict-filled performance of “Nobody Needs to Know” reminds us that every relationship takes two people making an effort every single day.

Whether you are team Cathy or team Jaime, everyone who sees this show will be team Theatre Harrisburg. The creative team, band, and cast have created a relatable, heart-wrenching production of The Last Five Years filled with unbelievable talent both on stage and off. Understudies Lindy Keefe and Drew Patti take the stage for the matinee performance on Saturday, February 14th. Visit www.theatreharrisburg.com to get your tickets. You do not want to miss this show.