Musical examines all love’s sides
INTERNATIONAL CITY THEATRE
by Patty Marsters
pattym@lwsb.com
Long Beach’s International City Theatre (ICT) continues to bring live performances to homebound theater-lovers with this production of Jason Robert Brown’s “The Last Five Years.” The livestream presentation opens today, June 3, and is available via www.internationalcitytheatre.org.
The innovative musical, which premiered in 2001 and was adapted for the big screen in 2014, shows the two sides to a marriage, but with the bride’s and groom’s timelines moving in opposite directions. Novelist Jamie Wallerstein (John Battagliese) starts the play at the beginning of their relationship and progresses forward, while actress Cathy Hyatt (Gabriela Carrillo) starts five years later, at the dissolution of their marriage, then moves backward in time. The timelines intersect once, at the couple’s wedding.
They share their tales entirely through song, truly duetting in “The Next Ten Minutes,” as they get engaged.
Described as funny and uplifting, the play captures almost all the feelings in modern romance, from passion to heartache. It was named one of the 10 best productions of 2001 by TIME magazine and given that year’s Drama Desk Award for music and lyrics.
Directed by Jamie Torcellini, with musical direction by Graham Sobelman, “The Last Five Years” streams through June 20 on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are $35 per household. A post-show talk with the cast is scheduled for Sunday, June 13.
This is ICT’s first virtual musical and last planned streaming performance, as the theater intends to reopen for live shows, starting with “Closely Related Keys” in August.
