THE LAST FIVE YEARS Reaction (Jeremy Jordan/Anna Kendrick) - Ep. 36 of Musicals I Know Nothing About

Girl I love your videos, don't know how to explain exactly the feeling but it's like a ray of light on a dark day. Thank You!!!!

Fun fact: In Hamilton in the song Say No to This, when Alexander sings “Nobody needs to know” it’s a reference to this musical! The notes are even exactly the same!

One thing I love about the music in this show is how the end of Goodbye Until Tomorrow/I Could Never Rescue You blends seamlessly into the beginning of Still Hurting. It just makes the whole story come full circle and it's brilliant.

A sad fact from the movie: Jamie broke it off with her through a note (just like her ex that she talked about in I can do better then that ) and the first song is her while reading the note 🥲

It took me a long time to really appreciate what people meant when they said "they're both to blame" because I was looking at the story over and over and seeing "Cathy worshipped him, he cheated on her, she was right to feel unappreciated." Nowadays I think I understand that the reason they fell apart was they they were each trying to use the other one to make their life into a neat story. They latched onto each other from day 1 and fought more to make it work than they did to get off the ground in the first place, to figure themselves out. Jaime wanted Cathy to be the miracle inspiration that would supply him with endless moments that feel fresh and exciting and that they would never have to put effort into maintaining it. His work would never be hard because he got his break early and Cathy would always inspire him. That's why his advice to Cathy is always "just try, it'll be fine" in different forms, as if she wasn't trying. He tried to tell her she was wonderful inside, but kept implying she wasn't meeting her potential. Cathy wanted to be the disillusioned hardworking every girl who gets rescued from a boring life by such a brilliant man who was destined to find her. And because it's destiny, she shouldn't question it. She shouldn't express doubts about their compatibility, until she knows he's cheating on her. She kept praising Jaime as a savior, and as a genius, and that slowly worked its way into Jaime's doubts about himself. He NEEDS to be the one protecting her. She isn't in control, he's the one holding the treehouse together. Whenever he felt imperfect he panicked and thought "if I'm not perfect I'm awful," which is why he needed her at all his publishing parties. And although his cheating is totally unjustified, it follows the line of thinking from that self doubt through his unwillingness to show any weakness. Those are the "conscious, deliberate mistakes," him indirectly lashing out at Cathy by going behind her back instead of reaching out to her for support. It makes sense with their careers. Jaime is the creator, Cathy is the performer. Either way, they need the story to be wrapped up in its expected structure, and life just... doesn't do that for you.

It seems like a difference of support. She was always supportive with actions, until she couldn't anymore, but he was only ever supportive with words (it seemed). It always felt like he was saying "Okay babe. Go chase you're little dream while daddy goes and handles the grownup business."

I don't know if it's been said already but the author, Jason Robert Brown, wrote this play about his previous marriage. The character of Cathy was so similar to his ex-wife that she actually sued him. Also, I love this video, I have been looking everywhere for others who take a deep dive into the meanings of the melodies, reprises, etc. I'd love to hear what you thought of the movie with the use of colors and transitions it adds a whole other level of depth to the story.

you talked about them cutting the dialogue in "See I'm Smiling", and that's true for the movie! But in the original stage version, there is no dialogue at all there! All we get is her reaction and the audience has to piece together what he could have said there. It's such cool writing! this is one of my favorite shows! 👏

When you listen to Jamie’s songs, where at first he appears to be supporting Cathy, it’s also possible to interpret them as condescending messages that she’s just not trying hard enough, and that if she were, she would be as successful as he is. There are multiple ways to hear each song, which is one reason why it succeeds so well dramatically and emotionally.

Was interesting to see your interpretation of the relationship. The show is basically an opera, so you get pretty much the whole story in the songs. But I viewed Cathy as constantly and genuinely supportive, and I felt like she gave too much without vocalizing that the sacrifice was eating away at her. She kept failing and kept making him the best most important thing in her life. And I felt like he moved cheating and lying far into gaslighting territory when he denied it to her face all the time. So her sense of betrayal and bitterness grew, especially considering how much she'd given to him and his life. She was super codependent and he was self involved, though they loved each other. And when you see him convincing her to come to that party, she has repeated that her issue is the cheating (he's cheating with his publicist, who's at all these parties), so I always felt like that "support" for and "belief"her in in that moment was really him avoiding the real issue and moving it into a "you're just bitter and not supportive" realm in order to get what he wants from her. I think Jamie talks a lot about supporting her and believing in her, but in action I'm not sure he tends to carry through (I think that's indicated in the scene where he keeps saying he'll "be there soon", at least how I interpreted it) It's a brilliant musical. Loved your reaction and your insights!!!

Both sides set unrealistic expectations from the start, whether conscious or otherwise, and each had different but equally destructive coping mechanisms to deal with that which clashed violently. Kathy opts to pretend nothing bad is happening which manifests in her becoming increasingly emotionally abusive & controlling, and Jamie shifts the blame entirely onto her which manifests in his cheating & verbal abuse at the end. It's one big, beautiful, heart-shattering story of a relationship that was, frankly, doomed from the start and the music is nothing short of breathtaking - they couldn't have found two better stars for the movie honestly.

I like your point on communication. I have always been fascinated by those who take Jamie’s side, because whatever Cathy’s sins are, his are worse. But your theory actually helps me balance out the two story lines- that neither is good at communicating with the other. Of course, the crazy set up doesn’t allow them to talk to each other! So the audience is forced to decide what happens in between the “highlight reel.” In any case, it’s an amazing show and a great reaction!

Just thought I'd share this: I just found an NPR article, from around the time this movie was released, with the headline "Every Song In 'The Last Five Years,' Ranked By Uncontrollable Sobbing"

8:15 Most of the dialogue is in the lyrics of the song and any that weren't, like Cathy's phone call with her manager during "Moving Too Fast" or Jamie's phone call to Cathy and presentation of his novel during "Climbing Uphill", are not on any of the albums for the show. For context, whenever there is a performance of "The Last Five Years", the staging of the scenes usually has the actor singing by themself and the other actor either off-stage or they are covered in shadows. For example, "See I'm Smiling" during the original production of the show had Norbert Leo Butz (Jamie) not lit while Sherie Rene Scott (Cathy) is lit and speaking to Jamie in her timeline and anytime Jamie is lit, Cathy is now in the shadows because the audience is now seeing events transpire in Jamie's timeline and it goes back and forth a couple of times as the song escalates.

This video's been sitting on my drafts for so long that I have now seen the show and have 2,578 more thoughts about it. Anyone wants bonus commentary on Patreon?

So glad you've become a fellow JRB obsessive! definitely one of the most gifted contemporary theatre composers since Sondheim (whose influence you can really hear in "See I'm Smiling"). He won the TONY for best original score at 28 then wrote this show. which is like... rude. Bridges of Madison County may be even more beautiful and heartbreaking than this show. Even 13, his musical for teenagers, is better than you'd ever expect it to be. I'm so happy you get to experience them all for the first time. Can't wait to see your reactions!

If you have the chance, watch the original production with Sherie Rene Scott and Norbert Leo Butz In Sherie's performance the lyric "isn't he Wonderfull just 28, the savior of writing" from epitomizes the desperation Cathy feels in sensing him slipping away and her feeling 'not enough' really really beautiful

"Nobody needs to know" now you get the reference in Hamilton :-)

Jason Robert Brown is a terrific piano player, and I wouldn't be surprised if he did the piano on this soundtrack himself :) (Also, fun fact: He has a cameo in the movie as - I think - the pianist who keeps speeding up during Cathy's audition.)

How did you know that I had just re-awakened my obsession with this show! I’ve been listening to the soundtrack (and watching that one Jonathan Bailey video) on repeat for days now!