The two-hander musical The Last 5 Years by Jason Robert Brown is a story about twenty-something couple Cathy, an aspiring actress (Ellie Neal -a current Toi Whakaari student) and Jamie, a budding author (Justin Rogers – a recent Toi Whakaari graduate ).

Their journey of love, ambition, hope and heartbreak is told through fourteen sung-through scenes, but there is a twist. Cathy’s story is told from the end of the relationship, and Jamie’s from the beginning, meeting in the middle for their happiest day of all before continuing on their respective paths towards joy or despair, forward and back in time.

Having seen this musical on a couple of other occasions, I am curious to see a new interpretation especially since the movie musical has been released, and to find out how this influence plays out in the newer stage versions.

Director Jon Hunter’s vision is beautifully realised in the intimate setting of the fabulously refurbished Bats Dome theatre. The minimal furnishings and simply draped curtain backdrop are used to full effect, providing pathways on and off stage, windows, and even costuming moments. The stage usage is extended right to the edges and clever use of lighting (Blair Godby) creates ‘outside’ spaces for phone conversations/interviews, Cathy’s audition location,s and a breathtaking wedding venue (if you haven’t been in this theatre I’ll not give a spoiler on that one as you need to see for yourself). The costumes reflect a modern couple with a retro feel.

The songs are thought-provoking, confronting and humorous – all of which cover the high and low times of a relationship whether long or short.

Musical motifs are cleverly used to link the emotions and images of the story and expert musical director Mark Dorrell plays with enormous sensitivity to the actors and the score.

Especially poignant is the bittersweet musicbox-esque opening music, a haunting reminisce of Cathy’s wedding dance before her first heartbroken song ‘Still Hurting‘. This motif is repeated several times in the show and at times evokes an image of the ornamental couple on the wedding cake clinging on to each other for dear life.

Ellie Neal and Justin Rogers portray Cathy and Jamie with considerable heart, but also with great fun and humour. They both have very enjoyable and listenable voices which are able to convey a huge array of emotion. The challenge for them both in this version is shifting from song to song from their own part of the story to the other person’s – one moment joy and excitement and the next frustration or sadness – but they master this with aplomb.

This musical has historically been performed where each character sings their own part of the story more in isolation of the other until they join together for their wedding then crossing over to continue more or less on their own. However, with the recent movie influence, this interpretation gives a fuller impression of who Cathy and Jamie are through their interactions with each other. (This only becomes a problem and awkward when a third character is needed in ‘Nobody needs to know’  and for me this didn’t gel with the seamless flow already well established)  I did however like being given this fuller interactive picture and it makes it harder for the audience to choose a side of who is mostly to blame and we feel just as conflicted as the characters at times.

The rapport these two performers have for each other is transparent throughout and their excellent storytelling carries them through any occasional difficult vocal range issues.

As Cathy, Ellie shows us her extremely versatile voice with crystal clear purity, tender control and the classic musical theatre genre strength. Justin’s Jamie is fun loving with a charismatic smooth voice capable of transporting us with gentleness and raw power.   

Time is an ever present theme – from the relationship duration of 5 years; the characters conflict with careers and making (or not) time for each other and through many of the songs such as The Next 10 minutes from the wedding vows; Moving too Fast; Goodbye until Tomorrow and never more so than in Jamie’s clever Christmas story about Schmuel, an old tailor bemoaning the fact he doesn’t have enough time to follow his dreams with the clock on the wall taunting him with the prospect of having unlimited time rather than being content with the status quo – a message that is meant for Cathy and a very creative show of support for her from Jamie. I don’t think I was the only one in the audience who could identify with this message of don’t let time just pass you by with complacency or fear.

This song is an absolute highlight, not only because of how Justin sings it with fabulous style, vocal agility and character but it is truly magical  – literally – magical.

 I look forward to future productions by Vision Theatre – the brain child of Ellie Neal and also of these two very professional and ‘to look out for’ performers.

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