The Last Five Years: Kimsam Productions

What happens when you're at the top and yet things don't seem to be working exactly right for you? This is the question directly addressed by Kimsam Productions' recent offering of Jason Robert Brown's song-cycle musical The Last Five Years. Charting the downfall of a marriage between rising writer Jamies Wellerstein, played by Ryan McCurdy, and struggling actress Catherine Hyatt, played by Brittny Hargrove.

As Jamie, Mr. McCurdy is his usual charming self. Played with the same magnetism that marked his performances in Urinetown, An Apology for the Course and Outcome of Certain Events Delivered by Doctor John Faustus on His Final Evening, and Batboy, one finds it difficult to look away as Jamie sings the praises of his "Shiksa Goddess." It is a small regret that, evidently, he will be departing our fair city for bigger things at the end of this month. As such, this will make Last Five Years one of a number of swansongs performed by this Savannah mainstay, a series which began in April of 2009 with Cardinal Rep's final performance. If Mr. McCurdy truly is outward bound this time, we here at The Savannah Dramaturgy wish him the best.

Ms. Hardgrove, as a struggling and overwrought Catherine, is also highly enjoyable. The strengths of her past performances (Ti Moune in Once on This Island and Edith in Pirates of Penzance) are largely topped in this, her senior project as a Music Education and Voice Performance major at Armstrong Atlantic State University.

Though the cast is highly enjoyable, and are, by and large, capably directed by Ms. Kimmi Sampieri, the script itself lags behind the rest of the production. As a song cycle, there are a few enjoyable numbers individually, but the overall arch is simply tedious. Not only are they unbalanced, with Mr. Brown spending far more energy on Jamie's Odes to Joy, but the overall thrust makes it hard to mourn the ending of a relationships that the audience has never really seen in a functional mode. Though "The Next Ten Minutes" seems to be lovey enough, the audience already knows how it is going to end. This simply plays on heartstrings of syrupy sentimentality, without allowing the audience any hope of real redemption or reconciliation. The time schema, with Catherine telling the story in reverse while Jamie moves in a normal chronology, trends towards the absurdist work of Harold Pinter, particularly Betrayal.

Yet one thing this production can boast over many others in Savannah, is the use of actual orchestration as opposed to either canned or synthesized music. It is, at points, difficult to keep from being swept away when the violin, cello, and various sundry instruments are literally in the room with one. As such, this production should be praised, if for no other reason, for its ability to raise the bar in local community theatre in terms of the quality of the music itself.

By Jason Robert Brown; directed by Kimmi Sampieri; music direction by Kelli Horton; A Kimsam Productions production. At the Indigo Arts Freight Station, 703D Louisville Road, Savannah; (912) 713-1137. July 16-18, 22-24.

WITH: Brittny Hargrove (Catherine Hiatt) and Ryan McCurdy (Jamie Wellerstein).