“The Last Five Years” stands out with its unique storytelling techniques

Elmhurst University student Amelia McNeil brought the unique, Chicago-originating musical “The Last Five Years” to the Mill Theatre, both as a producer and as a lead character. McNeil is a double major in Musical Theatre and Digital Media, and this production was brought together as her senior capstone project.

McNeil mentioned that she began thinking about her capstone around last March — specifically, her interest in doing a performance-based project.

“I decided to take on this producer role in terms of getting the show approved… I got to do the character study and work on the music and pull all of those things together,” McNeil stated.

Aside from her producing responsibilities, McNeil also portrays the character of Cathy throughout the piece, and junior Derek Liavas plays Jamie.

Written by Jason Robert Brown, “The Last Five Years” is a musical feature that follows the story of a couple, Jamie and Cathy, and the trials and tribulations of their relationship, as they fall in and out of love.

One aspect that makes this show unlike a typical romantic story is how it’s told. Cathy’s perspective tells the story of their five-year relationship in reverse, starting with the moment Jamie leaves her. 

Jamie’s perspective tells the story in chronological order starting from the moment just after they’ve met.

One way that this show brilliantly communicates the difference between the two storylines is through the lighting. The character of Cathy starts the show with blue tones, illuminating her opening number, whereas Jamie’s character is contrasted with orange hues. 

This is something that can also be seen in the costuming, as Cathy often wears cooler tones, while Jamie is seen in warmer ones. The contrasting colors make it clear which timeline is being showcased and highlight the conflicting narratives of each character’s perspective.

That being said, there were some other moments throughout the show that strayed from this warmer and cooler tone divide. 

For instance, the blue and orange lights were tactfully utilized at the beginning of the show, but could have benefitted from continued use to make the divide in their storytelling clearer.

A true standout of this show was the vocal performances by both McNeil and Liavas. Little conversation was had between the two characters due to the nature of the non-traditional storytelling. 

Despite this, their relationship was built through the musical numbers and sold to audiences through the emotion McNeil and Liavas brought to the characters of Cathy and Jamie.