The Last Five Years

The Last Five Years was Jason Robert Brown’s third musical and was inspired by his own failed first marriage. The show is a two-person musical which tells the history of a relationship from two different perspectives. The male's narrative begins at the beginning of the story and progresses through marriage, infidelity, and divorce, while the female narrative begins at the end of the relationship and ends with the couple's first date; the two actors' only direct interaction takes place mid-point, during the wedding sequence.

This Auckland season launches the birth of a brand new theatre company, Last Tapes Theatre Company, declaring The Last Five Years to be just the first in a series of beautiful, dynamic and intimate theatrical works that they will produce in Auckland.

Only vaguely familiar with the concept of the show, but having heard many of the songs, usually sung by avid teenaged fans at auditions, I had no expectation that I would like the show as I generally hadn’t liked the songs.

Moving into the theatre at the insistence of an overly shrill and relentless bell, my interest  awoke immediately as I noted a virtually bare stage furnished by a book case unit, a stool, a bed, a desk and a chair. Minimalistic sets that encourage me to invest emotionally by creating the rest in my imagination, is a particular personal joy.  A three piece on stage band of James Doy, Graham Trail and Rob Galley completed the picture, jamming quietly in the background.

There was an expectant tension in the audience generated by the facts that respected and revered Actor/Director Jennifer Ward – Lealand headed the creative team, mentoring up and coming assistant Director Aaron Tindell. Last Tapes Producer Robin Kelly, an extremely talented Musical Director in both professional and community theatres throughout Auckland, served as the Musical Director.

Curtain was a little over 10 minutes late, with parking in Auckland being at a premium with 4 major venues serviced by the one car park all working and starting at the same time. All was forgiven the instant the show started and Cherie Moore as Cathy Hiatt burst on the stage to discover her husband has left her by way of leaving a note and his wedding ring on the sideboard. In the opening number Still Hurting, Moore sets us off on an emotional journey at the bitter, angry, desperate end of a marriage.

Enter Tyran Parke as hubby Jamie Wellerstein starting off the 5 year relationship where he has just met and fallen for Cathy.

With a story set in two different time frames, by two actors at the same time, and in a “sung through format, with their audience in touching distance, this could be a potential train wreck.

However such are the combined talents involved in this production on and off, that the result is both astounding and astonishing. The cleverness of the writing has us switching allegiances each and every song and concluding at the end that personally they were both right, it was as a couple they are wrong.

Tyran Parke is a world class actor and his songs The Schmuel Song, unbelievably crafted, and both If I Didn’t Believe In You and Nobody Needs to Know, beautifully heart wrenching. As Jamie, Tyran matures from a hopeful unpublished author puppy of a boy, to an older and wiser, successful author being forced to conclude that the marriage between he and Cathy is at an end.

Cherie Moore, playing a struggling actor doomed to wander the provinces in unremarkable touring companies, is a passionate Cathy with good comic moments. Her rendition of the song See I’m Smiling was one of the highlights of the show. It quite broke my heart.

Final accolade - Bring tissues.

Very often a combination of talents that are joined to form a theatre company look much better on paper than in the reality of the production. In this instance this is definitely not the case.

Welcome Last Tapes, and what’s next?

Pauline Vella