The Last Five Years

The Last Five Years has heart, hurt, humour, and raw emotions.  It engages anyone who has ever been in love and suffered the euphoria and heartbreak associated with that.

The stars of this production are the cast (Bethan Ellsmore – Cathy, and Tim Dashwood – Jamie) as well as the instrumental combo of seven under MD Ben Murray. This group doesn’t so much accompany the songs as become integral to most of them. So, we should include Jason Robert Brown who wrote the concept, songs and music, as another star.

Neither Dashwood nor Ellsmore has a classically trained voice; but each has strong delivery, true pitch, and the ability to sell the mood of any song they deliver here. Each has the capacity to connect with you and your personal memories, to break your heart or give you a glow of remembered moments. What’s more to love?           

Director Travis Dowling keeps the action efficient and effective; his creatives faithfully support him in movement, and a simple well-lit set design.

My cherished moments: Jamie and Cathy’s first song together, “The Next Ten Minutes”; Jamie’s “Schmuel Song” with its amazingly complex rhythm and key changes (it brought the house down); and the finale where Cathy, remembering the parting after their first date, sings “Goodbye until Tomorrow”, while Jamie laments their break-up “I Could Never Rescue You”.

Go, it’ll enrich you!

Jay McKee