The Last Five Years

The Last Five Years is a song cycle written by Jason Robert Brown, chronicling the 5-year-long relationship between Jamie Wellerstein (Mitchell Goode) and Cathy Hiatt (Hayley Binks). It's a beautifully-written piece (the composer won a Drama Desk for the score, I believe) and it's one of my favourites, so it was with trepidation that I walked into the Studio of the Subi Arts Centre tonight, Thurs 6th Nov. TL5Y is a challenge to stage, as the story runs forward for Jamie (from the couple's first kiss to their inevitable breakup) and backwards for Cathy. The set was simple and effective; three distinct areas kept Jamie and Cathy separate for most of the play, and furthered the idea that both were off in their own little worlds, not quite understanding what the other was going through. It would, however, have been nice to see the stage used a little more. The middle part could quite easily have been used without affecting the other character's "area". Jamie is a highly energetic character and could have done with more room to move - as it was, he seemed to be gesturing a lot to make up for having to stay in the same spot. The lack of movement sometimes made it feel concert-like, as if it was a series of discrete songs rather than a flowing story. Binks characterised failed actress Cathy beautifully, going from jaded, suspicious, confused woman to quirky, lovestruck, ambitious girl with ease. Goode's Jamie was also well-crafted, an energetic young guy who fell upon success a bit too early and was thrust into adulthood before he knew how to deal with it. The vocal talent of both Goode and Binks was very high, and they should be congratulated on their excellent performances. They pulled off an extremely challenging score, injecting humour and pathos into their songs beautifully. Some songs were perhaps a little too reminiscent of the Off-Broadway soundtrack - not a bad thing, although it's nice to see performers making their own stylistic choices - but this is merely a small nitpick and shouldn't take away from the very strong performances by both leads. The setting of each scene was established nicely by use of props or mime. The use of the flower was particularly effective. Speaking of the music, the instrumental ensemble was fantastic - Jason Robert Brown is renowned for his difficult scores and these guys pulled it off perfectly. Kudos to all. Overall, TL5Y is a moving, funny, lovely little production that deserves bigger audiences. It runs until Saturday at the Subi Arts Centre.

It is a shame that this is the first production of YG I've had the time to actually write my review for since their production of Into The Woods (in short- ITW- incredibly good. Travelling- very promising show and amazing performances from the entire cast) Because L5Y is also one of my favourite shows, and I, unlike the above reviewer, wasn't completely thrilled. Probably my least favourite YG production. (But pls read on- it wasn't actually all that bad!) This review is ultra-hard. I figure all involved are professionals, and it would not serve anyone for me to give a gentle fuzzy review. So I hope all is taken with the highest professional regard with which I am delivering it. The L5Y is often an uncomfortable show. It shows us two raw and flawed characters at their worst and most selfish. Like a train wreck, you can't take your eyes off these 2 people unconsciously but surely destroying their relationship bit by bit until the inevitable happens. The clever ploy as described above is mapping these two journeys in completely different directions. I attended opening night, and should own up that I was not convinced this would work. It is a show I hope to have time to do myself at some point before I'm too old (some would argue I'm already there), and was very interested to see what Chris and Simon did with it. With that said, I was pleasantly suprised at how well it was done. The use of simple staging and movement left us with the story and the characters, so I found limited use of the space actually enhanced my experience of the production. My main bug bears were probably- Vocally I don't think either lead was ready (yet) for these roles. The band simply didn't rock hard enough. Mitchell Goode- I have liked in the last few shows I've seen, and can't wait for this voice to mature. But it hasn't yet. There were several squeaks (too many) in higher passages and the voice lacked the core of power needed to completely embrace the role. It also failed to fill the space, and this may have contributed to the band sound being quite small. It is a stupendously large sing and I don't think he is quite there yet. That said, in 5 years or so, and with the right vocal coach, I think this guy will be a star. For a tip, what I noticed watching him sing throughout is that there is a lot of tension in the upper chest/shoulders/neck. Basically straining the small muscles to push the sound out rather than the guts. This will come with maturity and more basic technique. It will help the high stuff, give the voice a core, and give the endurance needed to push through this beast of a role. I would also suggest to Mitchell he looks for a way to sing without moving his hands so much. At the moment it seems to serve as a distraction, rather than enhancement. I'd like to see how he could just lay out the character for us, and let us deal with it... The hands are a comment from previous shows as well. He is certainly good looking, and a great actor. Both leads played the comic sides of their characters particularly well. Hayley gave us an honest and beautiful Cathy, but also has a voice that I would like to hear with some more maturity. There were moments of great sound, but again the raw core was missing in the powerful moments. A few moments of scratchiness near the top... The same notes about building the core strength (abs) I gave above might help. Again fabulous comic acting. Her darker moments were realised more effectively than Mitchell's. Both leads flourished in the happier moments of the relationship, but the heavier moments lacked a little. I'm not sure, but maybe neither has had those sorts of experiences yet? I got the highs, but just didn't get the depths hard enough. (but had a few teary moments, so it was obviously not a disaster!) The band- this score absolutely rocks. (Jason Robert-Brown doesn't make it particularly fair for other pianists either.) This band never quite made it... I don't know if they had to play down to balance with the voices, but it sounded a little weak at times. I would have liked more bass, much more cello, and much much more piano. The piano sounded a little out of tune as well? Basically, there was a lot of correct playing, the notes were there, but the raw passion of the music didn't cut through often enough. e.g. Goodbye till tomorrow- opening piano line was completely rhythmically correct, but sounded very classical. It needs to rock! I also thought the ensemble between band and voices wasn't quite there yet (opening night?). Ironically, unlike I expected, it felt like the voices were trying to pull the band along, not the band driving the singers. Despite all of the above, I still thought this was a well-conceived interpretation of an incredible score and script. Simple clean direction really left us with the people, and that is the guts of this story in my opinion. I do recommend you all go to see it and make your own call. I am not certain that any but a highly trained singer would notice my rather intense vocal criticisms. Fortunately the crowd on opening night was quite decent. I only hope the rest of the far too short run has the same success. Sadness that we might not get any more YG goodness though... Nev It's the simple things stupid...

I notice above that early in my review it appears I was suprised that YG did a good job of the show. What I wanted to make clear was I wasn't sure how the show/script (L5Y) itself would go being staged. I think it's an excellent soundtrack, but wasn't sure how it would work on stage. So therefore, the suprise was that the show itself flowed better than I'd thought it might (never seen it before), and not that this team did a good version of it. I always expect a great show from YG, thus my review was, in hindsight, rather unforgiving. Just wanted that to be clear. I am hoping that they have had great audiences (tonight is close to full, so get your tix now!) and that maybe this might not be the last thing we see in Perth from these guys. Nev It's the simple things stupid...

listen mate. you sounds really up yourself and dumb. i saw you in your role in oliver for MS last year- and you were TERRIBLE!!! so reading you criticise this makes me laugh considerably. and stop sucking up asses too and trying to make yourself look like some genuius. because we all know that clearly you are not. you sounds really sad. Mingg

It's a shame you feel that way. Yes, I can come across as being up myself. Dumb? Not sure I agree there. I'm glad you came to Oliver...sorry you didn't post a review last year that might have helped me become a better performer, or even alerted me to what you considered was terrible about my performance so I could look at ways to improve myself. I'd agree that I wasn't too great in Oliver- ironically I think that had a lot to do with the fact I was cast in a role that probably didn't suit me. (parallel to the criticism I had of this show) However, I would contend that it wasn't the vocal side of things that 'sucked', more the acting! I did this to help out MS, as their Bumble pulled out halfway through rehearsals and they needed someone to come in and do the role. It was an intense process, and one I found much harder than I had thought I would. Therefore I consider it was a really great experience for me. But regardless, I still contend feedback last year would have been useful to help me grow- even along the lines of "YOU SUCK!" :-) As for the rest of the post...I'm not sure I can respond? Certainly don't feel sad...even if I sounds that way. I'm only sorry that this post was already moderated down before I even had the chance to read it. I certainly don't get stressed by anonymous character assassination. Perhaps you too could put your real name down and stand by your comments, as I clearly am willing to do. Then I may find your 'arguments' at least a little credible. It takes a little guts in such a small town to give your honest feedback, and I like to think that I can be counted on for that. Whether you agree with it or not concerns me not, but please take 5 minutes to think up a considered counter-argument to my review and enrich everyone's experience of the site, rather than calling me dumb, up myself, a suck ass, and really sad! Surely someone else out there saw the show and has an opinion?! Nev It's the simple things stupid...

Ha. For anyone getting on their high horse...even to challenge someone else on a high horse...make sure your stirrups are tight. If you're going to enter into an argument, make sure you can write it well. Because unfortunately even if someone is out of line in their criticisms, the fact that they can string sentences together intelligently makes me respect their point of view even if I don't necessarily agree with the content. And I don't give your counter-argument any credibility, even if you are in the right, when you yourself don't sounds much like a genuius...whatever that is. And also: it's no argument to discredit someone's criticism just because they may have been terrible in a play themselves. Acting in a show, and watching critically from the audience, are two activities that are not necessarily correlated. There are hundreds of good critics who are crap actors, and being a good actor doesn't necessarily make you a decent critic. I can't comment on Neville's acting ability, or even his critical point of view, knowing nothing of the show he's talking about. But I can respect his right to criticise because he expresses it well and attempts to intelligently justify his opinion, which after all is one opinion and anyone is free to argue differently. You, on the other hand, were obviously laughing so considerably when you wrote this, that I consider you laughable. Cheers, Craigg ~<8>-/====\---------

Neville - good review :) I would LOVE to read one on The Travelling and you promised you would write one after you got all that uni stuff handed in!! Well, we might have to let you off this time ;) Anyway, in short, I saw L5Y on both opening and closing night and it was fantastic to see the progression of the performances in such a short time - Hayley and Mitch really gave it their all, and what a hard slog this show would be for any actor. Congrats to all involved, and to YG - Bon Voyage from sad Betty :(

I know it is too late, but I want to write it anyway. I feel it was too good a show to have no feedback. Just took a severe hammering in terms of '09 income for my group, so on top of uni, tax, reports, and all the other stuff that's been on, I've been trying to devise ways to plug a huge hole in next year's operating budget. I have after all become accustomed to eating... But hopefully before the end of the week. Nev It's the simple things stupid...

Hehe :) Cool man, I look forward to it!!