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Regional Reviews: St. Louis The Last Five Years Also see Richard's reviews of LaBute New Theater Festival and Pride and Joy
With its palindrome-like structure, The Last Five Years manages to tell the same story backward as forward: Jamie, the man (Camden Scifres), starts out joyfully at the beginning of a romance, and a heartbroken Cathy (Eileen Engel) begins the same play at the very end of that same relationship. They take turns singing in a wide variety of musical numbers, till Jamie and Cathy meet in the middle, at their wedding, right before an intermission. After that, the reversals turn even more powerful. Clark A. Cruikshank directs with perfect, tenacious professionalism, building toward an unexpected kind of magic at the wedding. But then the show becomes twice as magical in that second act: she's increasingly hilarious, and his songs become more brilliantly intense. The enviable electric piano accompaniment is by Randon Lane, with fine photo projections by Bradley Collins and an appropriately complex set by Tim Callahan. With an intermission, the show runs about 100 minutes (forward or back). Cathy rails against giving up her acting career, and against becoming a stay at home housewife. Though one of her big recurring lyrics onstage seems to contradict all that: the lovely "I'll Be Waiting" (for the newly successful writer). Still, she's pained at all the publisher's parties and events, where she tends to disappear. Even as her story is brightened considerably by great comic songs about struggling through auditions in New York. Though that was later–before he became famous–in her reverse chronology. Elsewhere (or "else-when"), Jamie's darkest moment comes from spending the night with another woman. And we see all the horror and shame in Mr. Scifres' eyes the morning after. He's betrayed–not just her, but himself as well. And in those moments the actor strikes a deep, sensitive nerve every time. It's not all grim for him–he also gets a funny song in act two about how some married men feel preyed upon by beautiful women. But she can't go forward, and he can't go back. Ms. Engel (as always) makes for a complex, funny, and silvery voiced leading lady. And Mr. Scifres turns this budding young novelist into a great showman, caught up in his own success. But he's a dude, and (in this case) can only be linear in life. And she's a gal, and her particular love story just happens to run backward in this retelling. The show premiered at Chicago's Northlight Theatre (in Skokie, Illinois) in 2001, and went to Off-Broadway in 2002 and again in 2013 before arriving on Broadway earlier this year at the Hudson Theatre, where it ran for 89 regular performances. At Bluff City, Ms. Engel is spectacular in Cathy's opening number, and later too, in rueful audition scenes in New York. And Mr. Scifres brings outstanding emotional range to his role: one of them falling in love, the other, out. Depending on where you start, of course. The Last Five Years, produced by Bluff City Theater, runs through July 19, 2025, at 212 Broadway, Hannibal MO. For tickets and information, please visit www.bluffcitytheater.com. Cast: Production Staff: |
