Composer/Lyricist : Jason Robert Brown
Director: Paul Griffiths.
Musical director/pianist : Bryan Schimmel
Where: Liberty Life Theatre on the Square
When: Tuesday to Friday at 8.15pm; Saturday at 6 and 9pm. Until April 28
Rating: ****
Jewish boy, a New York writer, meets girl, a shiksa wannabe Broadway star. They get married. Oi, the passion, the joy, the tsores.
So far so ordinary. Add Jason Robert Brown's theatrical vision, demanding music and meaty libretto and the traditional formula for a nice little show goes out the window. Primarily, what makes The Last Five Years so exciting is that it challenges the individual concepts of theatre, musical theatre, even opera, as one form bleeds into another.
The fragmented structure plays havoc with time sequences, beginnings and endings intertwine, indeed, we only witness the two characters actually interacting with each other at the wedding itself. This is not a case of someone having a feeling then bursting into florid song.
The narrative is sung in recitative style. Character development happens in short snappy scenes in which Jamie (Adam du Plessis) and Cathy (Heather Knight) reflect on their love story which peaks, then disintegrates. Life and hormones intervene, as they tend to do.
Stylistically the music has the pristine candour of Stephen Sondheim, elements of gutsy rock and roll, a pinch of the blues. These influences are slickly compacted into a fresh, economic yet powerful song cycle which is dramatised with pain-staking detail and insight by director Paul Griffiths and designer Niall Griffin.
Minimalism is the key to this antidote to schmaltzy musicals. Yet The Last Five Years has lashings of emotion and vocal antics. It's a bit like experiencing the essence and impact of a show like The Phantom of the Opera - in a shoe box.
UK-born Heather Knight and her marathon-proof voice conquers the intricacies of Cathy's elations and disappointments. There's always a danger she will be overpowered by Adam du Plessis's mega voltage stage persona and vocal prowess. That rarely happens, but it creates an uncomfortable tension. There are moments when Du Plessis is too frenetic, the action over ebullient. That jars because of the overall restraint.
Completing the trio of performers, who remain on stage throughout this one-acter, is sublime musical director Bryan Schimmel playing the piano as sublimely and skilfully as ever.
The Last Five Years offers intersecting biographies, cross-hatching art forms, exhilarating artistry on a roll. What's not to love?