In a departure from their usual performance of a play, Castle Hill Players present production is the modern heartfelt love story musical “The Last Five Years”. Written and composed by Jason Robert Brown this tells the story of five years in the relationship between Cathy and Jamie. For those unfamiliar to the musical, it is helpful from the start to understand that their two stories are told from different ends of the relationship – Cathy moving backwards in time and Jamie moving forwards.
On opening night, the cast were Levi Burrows and Cassidy Donovan. Levi Burrows has a very flexible voice with a wide vocal range essential for the part of Jamie Wellerstein, a rising ambitious novelist who is full of life and hope as their romance starts. His career takes off but then temptations and distractions arise which have consequences for the direction the relationship heads. He plays the part of an increasingly successful novelist who is also losing the thing he loves & struggles with serious choices with enthusiasm and skill.
Cassidy Donovan displayed lovely lyrical tones and a range of emotions to bring the story of Cathy Hiatt, a struggling actress who passion for her career is caught up in also wanting to support Jamie, and the hurt and disillusion of their relationship.
Cathy and Jamie only directly meet once in the musical with a wedding song as their timelines intersect – the charming “The Next Ten Minutes.”
The talented band – David Catterall conductor and keys, Jade Jacobs on violin, Heather Hinrichs cello 1, Ian Macourt cello 2, Chris Everest on guitar and Dominic Yeap-Holliday on bass provide a beautiful background and harmony to the singing.
A simple set by Your Place Architecture, allows the actors to come and go easily as the scenes flow smoothly in each direction. An almost whimsical touch with the curtains draws us onto the stage with the actors and has the more practical point of leading our eyes to the start of each short scene.
Directed by Julian Floriano with musical direction by David Catterall this intimate and touching musical is playing at Pavilion Theatre Castle Hill till 16 August.
Production photography by Chris Lundie
