What would your relationship look like if you watched it forward and backward?
Constellation Theatre virtually presents “The Last Five Years” through July 11.
“This is a sung-through musical, so there’s no dialogue,”
Director Kate Bryer told WTOP the dialogue-free, sung-through musical has been a popular choice for lots of theaters nationwide because it calls for only two actors.
Created by Jason Robert Brown (“Parade”), and according to Bryer based on his marriage, the story follows the romance and breakup of Cathy (Adelina Mitchell) and Jamie (Alex Stone) in two inverse parallel-action storylines.
“Cathy tells the story from the end of the relationship back to the beginning,” Bryer said. “Then you follow Jamie from the beginning of the relationship to the end. They alternate scenes and in the middle they come together for just one brief moment on stage together. … “It’s very theatrical. It’s told in a really interesting, beautiful way.”
The musical premiered at Chicago’s Northlight Theatre in 2001 before hitting Off-Broadway in 2002. It was adapted into a 2014 movie starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan.
“I don’t care for the film, because it takes away from the theatricality,” Bryer said. “The film is done in a very realistic manner. The play is meant to be a theatrical experience.”
Whether you liked the film or not, songs such as “The Schmuel Song,” “If I Didn’t Believe In You” and “Nobody Needs to Know” will be stuck in your head. “And someone told me that a lot of women sing ‘I’m Still Hurting,'” Bryer said.
The intricate songs provide a stellar showcase for the two rising actors — Mitchell, who has been seen at Signature Theatre, and McLean High School graduate Stone, who went to the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and has been living in New York. “They’re both tremendous performers on the brink of fabulous careers.”
It’s visually brought to life by choreographer Tony Thomas, music director Marika Countouri and lighting and scenic designer A.J. Guban.
“The set is literally just a circle on the floor with a turntable,” Bryer said. “We had just three pieces of furniture that we used in lots of ways, trying to establish environment through lighting and the way we use the space.”
It was all filmed by Blue Land Media, a video production company in Arlington, Virginia, and Bryer said the best parts of the video were edited together. “I have great admiration for them being able to film something and keep the theatricality of it,” Bryer said, “because that’s what we all miss so much. If we’ve brought a little bit of that to this experience, I’ll be really happy about that.”
As the virtual production washes over you, you’ll be left with a bittersweet experience, she added.
“You watch it and it’s very sad, but you’re also reminded that the things that are the most painful in our life are also the most meaningful, and you would not give them up to not have those painful moments.”
Listen to our full conversation.
