Review: VWCT play features great music

ED EICHLER/for The Van Wert independent

Rarely do we get the opportunity to see a local community theater perform a currently running, popular, off-Broadway show.  Fortunately, we now have that opportunity with the fifth and final production of the 2012-13 season from Van Wert Civic Theatre.

The Last Five Years, a musical written and composed by Jason Robert Brown is being performed at VWCT the first two weeks in May. The play opened Thursday and runs through Saturday, May 11.  The Last Five Years is a relatively new musical that was first presented at the Northlight Theatre in Skokie, Ill., in 2001. The first New York production was presented at the Minetta Lane Theater in 2002, starring Norbert Leo Butz and Sherie Rene Scott. This musical received the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music and Outstanding Lyrics, and was nominated for five additional Drama Desk Awards, including Outstanding Musical.

The Last Five Years is the story of the ill-fated relationship of two young lovers named Jamie and Cathy, from the ecstasy they felt at the end of their first date to the agony of their final goodbye as they parted ways after only five short years.  However, what is unique about this show is how the two characters tell the story of the five-year relationship. We first meet a broken-hearted Cathy singing “Still Hurting” at the end of their marriage, after she discovers the note and wedding ring Jamie has left behind.  When we meet Jamie, however, he is ecstatic after saying goodbye to Cathy at the end of their first date, and is singing a song dedicated to her, calling her his “Shiksa Goddess”.  From that point on, the story is told, or I should say sung from beginning to end by Jamie, while Cathy weaves her story from the end back to the beginning. Each takes turns with their solo numbers from opposite sides of the stage; however, they do meet briefly in the middle of the story at the time of their wedding in Central Park.  There is no mystery as to how this story ends, the real story is how this couple, with so much to look forward to in the beginning, ended up the way they did.

Jamie finds sudden success as an aspiring young writer, while Cathy is struggling to find any similar kind of success of her own as an aspiring young actress.  They begin to drift further and further apart as Jamie gets caught up in the world of his own personal success, a world in which Cathy increasingly feels that she is not a part of.  Eventually, their increased physical and emotional separation from each other leads to Jamie’s betrayal in “Nobody Needs to Know” and to their final goodbye in “Goodbye Until Tomorrow/I Could Never Rescue You”.

The cast is small in this production, with Jamie and Cathy the only two characters we see on stage. Dan Stanowick takes on the role of Jamie, and Samantha Henry the role of Cathy.  Both actors are newcomers to the Van Wert Civic Theatre Stage, although Stanowick represented VWCT in the lead role of The Full Monty at OCTA contest.  Stanowick is from Bluffton and has worked a lot at Lima’s Encore Theater, both onstage and behind the scenes.

Henry is from the Findlay area, where she is active in Fort Findlay Playhouse. Both of these performers create very believable characters in their respective roles for this production, and are perfectly cast for their parts. Their vocal talents on their respective tunes are very crisp, clear, powerful, and a pleasure to hear.  As you see these two perform, you can feel their love, joy, happiness, hopefulness, pain, sorrow, betrayal, hopelessness and various other emotions as they go through the different stages of their relationship.

Although the set for this show is somewhat simple in design, it is very effective for this show.  A backdrop of the New York Skyline adorns the right side of the stage (from the audience perspective) which Jamie uses for many of his songs, and a backdrop of a scene by a river in Ohio graces the left side, from which Cathy performs several of her songs. Upstage in the middle is a backdrop split in two, which only comes together at the time of their wedding scene in the middle of the show to form a heart and two wedding rings.  This is also when the two sing their only duet together in “The Next Ten Minutes”.

No review of a musical would be complete without mentioning the musical performance.  Although the music for this show was composed for six musicians, it is performed here beautifully from the upstairs “pit” by an orchestra of only four, and you would never know why they would have needed the other two instruments.

The music is in various styles, and is hauntingly beautiful at times. Although several of the songs are serious in nature, such as “Nobody Needs to Know” and “If I Didn’t Believe in You”, there are several that will make you laugh as well, such as “A Miracle Would Happen”, “Climbing Uphill” and “A Summer in Ohio”. I think one of my favorites, however, is the romantic “The Next Ten Minutes” sung during their wedding scene.  But this is to name just a few.

I have heard that the tunes for this show are more challenging to perform than many other musicals VWCT has done in the past, so kudos to the fine performances from our orchestra members, Lou Balyeat on guitar, Rod Sroufe on bass, Bo Williams on cello, and, of course, Dee Fisher on keyboards.

Also, no show would be complete without the capable hands of the technical crew providing the lights, sound, props, and costumes for every scene. Thanks should go out for this to Ashley Roberts, Burdette Bolenbaugh, Amy Boley, and Ruth Ann Boley.

And, of course, I should not fail to mention thanks to the director for this show, Linda McClure, for once again putting together a very, very fine show for Van Wert Civic Theatre!

A couple of final notes on The Last Five Years.  This show deals with adult themes, and has a few words of profanity sprinkled in, so it would probably not be suitable for the very young crowd. It also runs for 90 minutes with no intermission.

Plan to come and see this show! Show dates are tonight through Saturday, May 11. Show time for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday performances is 8 p.m., and for the Sunday matinee (May 5) the show time is 2 p.m.  Call 419.238.9689 for reservations, box office hours 2-6 p.m.  The price is only $11, which is a bargain for a show that would cost $80-$150 to see in New York City.