Wait, What's Going On?

And why The Last Five Years should remain off-broadway

A few weeks ago I settled into my couch to begin my nightly scroll on TikTok, switching to Instagram for five minutes, and back to TikTok. As I scrolled past a few videos, I came across a clip from The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Now, if you don’t know, Fallon is my least favorite Jimmy, Kimmel is just funnier. And it’s the least favorite of all my late-night shows, but I‘m also the only person I know who reposts Seth Meyers thirst trap edits, so that’s neither here nor there 😍. Anyways, I usually just click and scroll past Fallon clips, but this one was different. The voices weren’t blending, the staging was awkward, and the piano was just sitting there. I cringed for the first two minutes, praying it would come together until I finally checked the comments. A wave of relief washed over me. Thank God I wasn’t alone.

So this was the highly anticipated Last Five Years that was finally making its debut after famously building a cult-following off-Broadway? I was ambivalent as I tried to scroll past the Fallon video and chalk it up to the actors’ nerves, to how the audio translates from the set to my phone speakers, to literally anything that would describe the confusion and mess I witnessed. I’ve said it before, I really don’t like to judge a show before seeing it because so much of theater is subjective and lives beyond the text (or music). So, a few days after my interrupted doom scroll, I bought two tickets off TDF for Friday night and, with my friend Sara, decided to see once and for all what was going on in the Hudson Theater. And let me just say, thank God we snagged an Au Cheval reservation for after the show because I needed that burger, a glass of pinot noir, fried chicken, and macaroni and cheese (with bacon) to distract me from whatever it was we saw that night— I’m not even joking.

The Last Five Years is written by Jason Robert Brown, who composed both the music and lyrics. The show is directed by Whitney White and stars Nick Jonas and Adrienne Warren. This is the first ever Broadway production as the show is frequently produced in regional and Off-Broadway theaters since its debut.

How I saw it: TDF

Run Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes (no intermission)

Where I sat: Orchestra, Row P, middle

First Thought: I am so confused……

Quick Synopsis: The Last Five Years is a two-person musical by Jason Robert Brown that tells the story of a five-year relationship between Jamie, an aspiring novelist, and Cathy, an aspiring actress. The musical has a unique narrative structure: Cathy's story moves backward in time (from the end of the relationship to the beginning), while Jamie's story moves forward chronologically (from beginning to end). The two timelines only meet once.

Let’s Start with the Direction

So here’s the thing. Reverse chronology is extremely hard in theater, and it’s not for the faint of heart. About a year ago, I saw Merrily We Roll Along in the same theater, a show that is notoriously known for its reverse chronology and is even more famous for how poorly it was received. Having seen that show as a teenager, I thought it was executed extremely well. That’s the point— it’s all about direction. For lack of a better word, Last Five Year’s direction was messy. Half the time I was checking the playbill (which was also organized in a wacky way) to understand where we were in the timeline. The other half of the time, I was trying to decipher the set which appeared two-dimensional.

As someone who has watched the movie and knows the music, I can only imagine what someone who didn’t read up on the show before thought was going on. The lighting varied for each timeline/character, which took me a second to catch on to, but after a while, ultimately proved ineffective with the hues clashing. The audio and sound mixing were off, which is a major problem when the show is as wordy and lyric-heavy (barely any spoken dialogue) as this one is. It is a director’s job to make sure that the music, text, acting, plot, lighting, sound, and stage all come together in pursuit of the message or theme of the show. Because all of those felt disjointed and lost, the show’s structure was further complicated, making it a difficult 90 minutes.

The Problem Is Also The Show Itself

I can only have so much disdain for the direction, however, because the show itself doesn’t know what it wants to be. At its core, it’s a show about the fallout of a marriage because of an emotionally shallow man and his prioritization of his ambitions and success over his wife and relationship. In my opinion, the contrasting timelines don’t allow the audience to build much empathy for either character or their toxic relationship. If you listen extremely carefully, there are times when the songs contrast directly(Jamie sings about pushing Cathy to her dreams, while Cathy sings about failing to reach her dreams) and for a moment, you almost understand how this musical could work. But here lies the issue— there are only small reasons why it could, instead of a big reason why it does. We spend so much time acclimating ourselves to a timeline and orienting ourselves in the story that we don’t have enough time to actually digest what each character is singing (complaining) about. The show doesn’t allow me to suspend my judgment of the characters and their experiences. To me, that’s the worst outcome a show can have.

The Celebrity of It All

I’m sure we’ve all noticed the uptick in what we like to call “stunt casting” on Broadway lately. Stunt casting is “the practice of using a celebrity in a theatrical production, often to generate publicity and attract more viewers (and higher ticket prices), even if they aren't necessarily the best actor for the role.” Some would say that because Nick started his career in theater, the stunt casting argument is a weak one. However, we have to remember that the producers set this show on a limited run, meaning they have an end date in mind and expect to make their money back within that time period. Similar to Othello, they are banking on ticket prices and volume, presumably to see Nick Jonas perform in the show’s Broadway debut. So yes stunt casting be damned, but 2+2 does equal 4 here.

Back to the performances. I’ve seen Nick Jonas in a Broadway production and he was pretty decent, not particularly amazing, but he held his own. His performance here was another story. I did not personally think he had the right voice or stamina for this role. As I mentioned before, it’s an extremely lyric-heavy show, and on the evening I saw it, he sounded out of breath, and he couldn’t handle the songs that were a bit outside of his range. I think Adrienne Warren did well as Cathy, but her voice to me, although interesting and quite leathery, didn’t move me. Their voices together had negative chemistry and didn’t mix. One would overpower the other, while one spat out the words. It felt like I was watching The Voice song battles (derogatory).

Not Everything Needs to Go to Broadway

I’ve sat on my thoughts about this show for a few weeks now, and I think this is the hill I’m going to die on: this show never needed to be in a theater this big. For no other reason than it doesn’t work. I think, at times, we can deeply underestimate the power of intimacy and connection that is fostered in an off-Broadway theater (less than 500 seats). Additionally, commercial success off-Broadway does not mean it has to transfer to Broadway to be considered a true hit. Sometimes that same magic simply cannot be captured in a larger theater. You have to work to fill that space!! That’s my main problem with this show: its power lies in its ability to bring people into the bubble. Unfortunately, in such a large theater, it’s easy for that bubble to simply never exist.

Last Thoughts…..

This is the one time I would suggest the movie version over the show version; I think Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan are effortless in their roles.

I’m looking forward to tuning in to the Tonys on Sunday (join the chat!!), and it’s looking UP for Audra following her Time Magazine cover and Lupone being a certified hater (in an uncool way). My thoughts on that situation? Lupone has always crossed the line, and now she’s a white woman pushing 80 who still crosses the line. Need we be surprised?

Shows on My List This Summer

Death Becomes Her

Goddess (Public Theater)

HA HA HA HA HA (Public Theater)

Dead Outlaw

Duke and Roya (Lucille Lortel Theather)

Buena Vista Social Club

My Son’s A Queer (Limited Run 6/12-6/16, City Center)