The Murfreesboro Little Theatre hosted Jason Robert Brown’s drama The Last Five Years on Friday night.
The Last Five Years is a musical full of sentiment with two emotionally engaging performances.
Jenna Pryor plays Cathy Hiatt, the disenchanted actress in a big city. Michael Adcock performs as Jamie Wellerstein, a successful writer and Cathy’s lost love.
Cathy, an endearing soul by the musical’s conclusion, tells her story in reverse. Jamie, an opposite force to Cathy and a man who tried and failed to be a proper husband for her, impressed spectators with his charm and ability to progress. His chronological progression and Cathy’s unconventional narrative intersect mid-performance. The two are married and begin to fragment scene by scene as Jamie’s professional life outpaces Cathy’s acting career.
Both performers evoked laughter, despite the grim facts, creating a relatable tale about opposite forces.
The way the two actors playfully communicated through witty and intuitive songs was most impressive. Adcock’s ability to harness tension, turning it into humor relieved the audience momentarily from the sentimentality Pryor’s character evoked.
An equally creative stage set the characters in an environment full of disarray. Old windows hung from the ceiling on both sides of stage accompanied below by moving boxes and two black stools at center stage. A rolling desk and two black chairs were used repeatedly by both performers, arranging them at the end of each scene so to set up the next seamlessly.
The Last Five Years will be at the Murfreesboro Little Theatre Saturday and Sunday, September 27th-28th at 7:30 p.m.
For more information on Saturday and Sunday’s performance please visit mltarts.com
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To contact Lifestyles editor John Connor Coulston, email lifestyles@mtsusidelines.com
