McCann Explores Disenchanted Love

One of many exciting productions featured at the Town Hall Theater this April, The Last Five Years directed by Doug Anderson, proved to be a compelling rendition of Jason Robert Brown’s popular 2001 musical.  Starring Mike McCann ’15 – who initiated this production as part of his senior thesis – and Kim Anderson, the intimate character study traces the five-year relationship of Jamie and Cathy, one a rising literary star and the other a struggling actress.

Notable for its unconventional narrative structure, Brown’s musical is told through two contrasting points of view. Cathy’s story is presented in reverse chronological order, beginning at the dissolution of the relationship and ending near their initial meeting, while Jamie’s story traces the relationship chronologically from its inception to its demise.  Through this diverged structure, The Last Five Years maintains both a sense of inevitability – the audience is aware of the relationship’s ultimate failure from the beginning – and a sense of consistent narrative tension, as the complete picture of the relationship only forms by the musical’s end.

Anderson’s production relied on an effectively simple blocking device to track both character’s stories as they unfolded. Along the stage floor were marked the years of the relationship. As each character progressed forward or backward in time, they moved along the physical timeline, beginning and ending on opposing sides of the stage.  When they meet together in their only shared scene at about the midpoint of the story, the narrative significance of this moment is underscored by the each character’s physical place on stage; not until this moment, and never after, are they as physically close, looking at each other rather than outwards at the audience.

In this way, Anderson’s production is well aware of the careful entanglement of tragedy and joy, hope and disillusionment. Only at the midpoint is the mood and mindset of the characters ever fully unified.  It is no coincidence that this is also the happiest moment in the musical, without the shading of resentment, disillusionment or bitter frustration that inherently colors nearly all other scenes.

Anderson’s and McCann’s powerful performances were further representative of a careful understanding of the musical’s nuances.  Each brought to life an autonomous story thread that was simultaneously dependent on and illuminated by the other.  McCann’s charming and ambitious Jamie was a natural counterpart to Anderson’s strong-willed and grounded Cathy.  As the musical unfolds, each performer subtly expresses the obstacles that the characters face; McCann’s Jamie has fewer moments of goofy endearment, while Anderson aptly expresses the slow burn that comes from years of professional and personal frustrations.

A particular strength of both performers showed in their adding lighthearted touches that fleshed out their characters and balanced what is otherwise an emotionally taxing ninety minutes. One sequence, in which Anderson auditions for a part in a musical, is brilliant in its send-up of the industry and deep understanding of its harsh realities. Cathy sings her audition song over and over, at one point substituting the lyrics for a stream-of-consciousness of her inner anxieties and frustrations. Anderson plays Cathy’s nervousness and paranoia beautifully, grounding it in the context of Cathy’s resolute realism.

McCann, too, gave a strong performance that deftly handles the enormous challenges it presents. McCann’s Jamie is comically charming and self-assured, but he is not an unassailable hero; Cathy’s frustrations over his growing distance as he becomes ever-engrossed in his career fit into the context of McCann’s performance.

A particular highlight of McCann’s performance comes in the first half of the musical. During Cathy and Jamie’s first Christmas together, he tells her a myth of his own invention regarding a tailor named Schmuel who, after a lifetime of menial work, finally realizes it is worth more in life to pursue one’s greatest ambition.

This largely comical sequence dovetails into a touching moment in which he presents Cathy with a watch, promising her the time she needs to pursue her dream.

McCann infuses this scene with a careful balance of tenderness and comedy. All the more compelling is the fact that Anderson’s Cathy is not physically a part of this scene, but is understood to be present. Instead, the audience becomes a stand in for Cathy, the only witness to his thoughtfulness and affection.

Perhaps this element is the key to the intimate power of The Last Five Years. The audience is as much a part of the musical’s central relationship as the two leads, acting as each character’s confidant, aware of inner desires and anxieties that even the other character may remain blind to.

In this way, Doug Anderson’s production of The Last Five Years appeals to a singular power of theater. It presents a life staged in miniature, creating a space in which an audience can inhabit and live out its greatest fears and aspirations.  Though the details may vary, nearly everyone has experienced the hope and disenchantment of a failed relationship. Through powerful performances and thoughtful staging, Anderson’s production inhabits the intersection of intimacy and universality where The Last Five Years resides.