The Last Five Years Notes on the Production
ARTISTS IN LOVE
The Last Five Years explores, among many other themes, how artists’ work intersects and dissects their personal lives. The melancholy tone of Jason Robert Brown’s musical exudes a knowing sadness about the potentially detrimental nature of artists in love. Our culture is enamored with the lime-lit circles of celebrities and artists. It’s no wonder that so many celebrity marriages are unsuccessful, due to the grueling time commitments demanded by their professions, the ever-scrupulous eye of the media, and the competing egos of the stars themselves.
The passionate and dramatic romance between Sir Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh is one of the most classic examples of Hollywood romance. Introduced by a mutual friend, the couple’s love blossomed through their professional experience and turned into a “tumultuous twenty-year romance that rivaled any they ever portrayed in a play.” On the couple’s artistic interaction, columnist Michael Sauter comments, “Quite simply, these two completed each other. Olivier inspired Leigh; he was her hero, her mentor, her soulmate. He shared her artistic aspirations, and moved her to aim even higher. In turn, she inspired him. This beautiful, sensual, witty woman not only sparked his intellect and libido, but also his personality.”1
This romanticized, idealistic couple’s relationship would end in despair, however, as Olivier’s star power overpowered Leigh’s career, which suffered in part due to health issues including a miscarriage and tuberculosis. Sauter explains, “Eventually Leigh returned to work, but she never regained her stature as Olivier’s superstar equal.”1 Much like in Brown’s The Last Five Years, Leigh and Olivier’s careers placed them in the stage’s spotlight as well society’s proverbial spotlight, and this success played an important, even detrimental part in their relationship. Leigh could never again feel quite up to her imagined standards to satisfy and keep up with Olivier. What she perceived as failure placed her in a deep despair that would crumble their relationship. According to columnist Tina Costanza, artists are largely unable to separate their personal lives from their professional lives. Egos and success become a huge part of a couple’s compatibility, much like the characters that Brown delivers in The Last Five Years.
Aside from egos and success, the sheer time and devotion to a project seems to be a large determining factor in the success rate of artists’ marriages. In an AFP Global edition article about Madonna and Guy Ritchie’s breakup, British celebrity publicist Max Clifford elaborates, “It’s almost a conflict because of the demands of the business, the demands of the career. You can only see potential clashes along the way.”1 Similarly, in a CNN article discussing Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman’s divorce, Los Angeles psychotherapist Suzanne Lopez asserts, “Whether you’re a celebrity or not, if your husband’s a CEO and has to spend six months away and you don’t get to see him, it creates great stress and strain on a relationship. They’re in the public eye, and people are watching every move they make, which creates an additional kind of stress.”2 The intense time demands of an artist’s work can be to the detriment of his or her relationships.
Lopez also addresses another issue prominent in The Last Five Years: temptation. “You’re not perceived as a person, you’re perceived as a commodity,” she comments. “So absolutely there are temptations, because people are wanting to be close to a perception of power and fame, so women will be trying to seduce your husband, and men will be trying to seduce your wife.”3 Thus, some of Jamie and Cathy’s troubles of in The Last Five Years are rooted in honest testimonies from some of our culture’s most recognizable A-list celebrities.
However, it is not the case that all celebrities are destined for heartbreak, that all artists are incapable of maintaining a successful relationship. Actors Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick have been married for 22 years, and each has made a selfless compromise not to work on a project while the other person is employed. In an interview with Cosmopolitan, Bacon explains, “To me, marriage is about committing yourself to one person. In my opinion, I got the hottest babe there is; I would never do anything to jeopardize that.”3
Legendary actors Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor had one of the most famous, controversial, and classically romantic relationships of our time, complete with two marriages, tumultuous dramatics, an untimely death, and many unbelievably poetic and tragic love letters. In letters left for Taylor, Burton addresses his own ego as he states, “One of these days I will wake up—which I think I have done already—and realize to myself that I really do love. I find it very difficult to allow my whole life to rest on the existence of another creature. I find it equally difficult, because of my innate arrogance, to believe in the idea of love. There is no such thing, I say to myself. There is lust, of course, and usage, and jealousy, and desire and spent powers, but no such thing as the idiocy of love. Who invented that concept? I have wracked my shabby brains and can find no answer.”4 Even though the Burton-Taylor romance had its hang-ups and public drama, the strength of their passion is an example of a tumultuous romance between two artists.
Nicknamed “Hollywood’s Golden Couple,” actors Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn have been together (not married) for over 25 years and have maintained a seemingly healthy relationship amidst their whirlwind Hollywood celebrity lives. According to “Anything Hollywood,” Hawn has said, “I think the secret is to know when to depend on somebody and when not to. It’s important that you are able to hold up your side of the house. I believe that one person can’t bear the whole burden because then their shoulders start getting heavy.”5 This sentiment is particularly pertinent to The Last Five Years, as Jamie and Cathy experience different needs: Cathy obsesses over her time with Jamie, while Jamie is content either with or without her. Stars like Hawn and Russell recognize the importance of maintaining a healthy relationship while living in the limelight of success and popularity.
Though celebrities have a larger magnifying glass on their personal lives than the general public does, the triumphs and failures of love are universal and speak to the human condition. Some artists and celebrities work to live happy lives together, while others may find disappointment in long hours, jealous anxiety, and personal shortcomings. In The Last Five Years, Brown examines a specific failed relationship between two artists at different points in their careers. A poetic and tragic examination of a simultaneously crumbling and growing relationship, the musical glimpses a beautiful microcosm of the romantic lives of artists.
PRODUCTION HISTORY
The Last Five Years was first produced at the North Shore Center for the Performing
Arts in Skokie, Illinois with Northlight Theatre on May 23, 2001. This production was directed by Daisy Prince, musically directed by Thomas Murray, and starred Norbert Leo Butz and Lauren Kennedy. The set and costumes for this original production were designed by Beowulf Boritt and the lighting design was done by Christine Binder, with sound by Rob Milburn and Ray Nardelli.6
The Last Five Years made its New York debut off-Broadway at the Minetta Lane Theatre in 2002 where it was once again directed by Prince and starred Norbert Leo Butz and Sherie Rene Scott, who replaced Kennedy. The off-Broadway production won the 2002 Drama Desk Award for outstanding music and lyrics, while also receiving nominations for Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Actor, Outstanding Actress, Outstanding Orchestrations, and Outstanding Set Design. Furthermore, the off-Broadway production was granted the Lucille Lortel nomination for Outstanding Musical and Outstanding Actor and the Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for Outstanding Off-Broadway Musical.
Following the Off-Broadway run, The Last Five Years has been produced in numerous cities in the United States, including Dallas, Baltimore, Fresno, Scranton, the Oregon Music Festival, and with the East West Players, who performed a one-night production of the show accompanied by Jason Robert Brown for the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids foundation.
The Last Five Years has also debuted in over 13 countries, including: England, Australia, Germany, Ireland, Hungary, Mexico, Greece, Argentina, The Philippines, The Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, and Austria. Among these countries, The Last Five Years has played at the Apollo Theatre in the West End in London and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.7
REFERENCES
1 Max Clifford http://www.famouscelebritybreakups.com
2 Suzanne Lopez http://www.archives.cnn.com
3 http://www.celebritycouples.net
4 Joyce Lee http://www.cbsnews.com
5 http://anythinghollywood.com/2009/03/hollywoods-golden-couple-goldie-hawn-and- kurt-russell/
6 http://www.jasonrobertbrown.com/theatre/history.php?showID=l5y
7 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Five_Years