Music soars in ‘The Last Five Years,’ but production gets in its own way

Theater review

Is heartbreak a universal experience? 

There’s nothing particularly groundbreaking in the story of “The Last Five Years”: Two kids get married too young and it doesn’t work out. Hardly the stuff of Greek tragedy. But there’s something exquisitely, beautifully painful in the story of a loss like this — ultimately small, personally monumental — because so many of us know that feeling. 

In Jason Robert Brown’s intimate musical, two idealistic, ambitious young New Yorkers — Cathy, an actor, and Jamie, an author — fall in and out of love over the course of five years. Shermona Mitchell directs the coproduction between ACT Contemporary Theatre and The 5th Avenue Theatre, running through March 16 at ACT. 

On opening night, Cassi Q Kohl played Cathy opposite Jeffery Wallace as Jamie (Keola Kapulani Holt and Coleman Cummings play alternate shows; find a full cast schedule at acttheatre.org). 

Hearing this music performed live — and well, as it largely is in this production — is a treat. Fans of the show won’t be disappointed, and newcomers should find plenty to enjoy. But an overcomplicated production undercuts the simple storytelling that makes this show tick.  

Though also simple, the show’s structure takes some explanation: Cathy begins her story at the end of their relationship and works backward in time, while Jamie starts from their first date and moves forward. They sing together only once as they meet in the middle — of the show and of their relationship — and declare their love for one another in a Central Park boat. (Hat tip to scenic designer Julia Hayes Welch for beautifully rendering that particular moment.) 

Each song in “The Last Five Years” tells its own stand-alone story — Cathy writing a letter from her crappy summer-stock job in Ohio, Jamie celebrating his first date with his “shiksa goddess,” a fight over attending the party for Jamie’s book launch. 

Some are funny and some tender, and many touch on the story’s main point of tension: that Cathy’s career stalls as Jamie’s skyrockets. She’s insecure; he’s arrogant. Maybe they’re jerks — or maybe they’re just 20-somethings. 

​​”The Last Five Years” premiered in Chicago in 2001, then ran for only two months when it opened off-Broadway in 2002. That it wasn’t a critical or popular hit is a head-scratcher when you consider the outsized impact it has had on musical theater. Brown, a three-time Tony winner whose other shows include “Songs for a New World,” “The Bridges of Madison County” and “Parade” (a tour of which hits Seattle in April), is adored and emulated by generations of musical theater lovers and maintains a strong fan base. Later this spring, “The Last Five Years” will finally premiere on Broadway, starring Nick Jonas and Tony winner Adrienne Warren. 

The show’s music is gorgeous and varied, and there are a lot of lovely moments in this particular production. But its biggest problem begins with its performance space: the in-the-round Allen Theatre at ACT. 

Because every number, with one exception, is a solo song, these poor actors have to keep moving, turning, hamming things up and emoting so hard to make sure they’re as legible as possible to the majority of audience members. (Don’t underestimate the importance of seeing someone’s face to help your brain process lyrics.) 

Kohl, a very funny performer and excellent singer with a mix belt for days, outshines Wallace, who sings well but doesn’t wring humor out of the material quite as efficiently. But my greatest desire for both of them is that they be empowered to do less: Sing like you’re talking to someone, let all but the very best vocal riffs go, and quit miming actions described in lyrics, an unnecessary acting crutch. 

The show’s most baffling choice came at the end, in what seems to be a shared moment of self-awareness between Jamie and Cathy: Their marriage is over. Yes, Jamie is at the relationship’s end, but Cathy is at its beginning on her narrative trajectory, filled with love and hope and no knowledge of the pain to come. Hearts break because we’ve already seen how their story ends. That’s the tragedy. I’m all for unique takes on older shows, when they work, but why deny us that moment?

Few people would ever fall in love if we knew from the beginning how it would turn out. The music in between — that’s the good part.