The Last Five Years - A Breakdown

1. Still Hurting

The first track opens on a heartbroken Cathy after reading a break up letter from her husband Jamie.  She sings of her thoughts now that her husband and partner has finished a incredible relationship.  This song is so emotional and can be played as very emotional, or cold and angry.  This acts as a spoiler as we now know how the play ends but she instead wants to focus on what went wrong in order to be able to move on.

2. Shiksa Goddess

In stark contrast to the tear-jerking opener we meet Jamie at the beginning of their relationship.  He is full of energy, and hope for the future.  We hear about his infatuation with Cathy and how different she is from the many Jewish women he has been forced to date in the past.  An uplifting song with some incredibly funny parts.

3. See I'm Smiling

Back to Cathy, she sings to Jamie on the last time she sees him before he breaks up with her via letter.  They haven't seen each other for a long time due to pursuing their different careers in cities hours apart.  Jamie comes to visit her and she sings about how despite their problems she wants to work through them and fight for their marriage to survive.  This song is heart breaking.

4. Moving Too Fast

Jamie is becoming successful, very successful.  As well as finding 'a woman he loves' he has also got a publishing deal with a publisher who are paying him very well.  This allows him to move to NY with Cathy and live his dream.  He feels like life is perfect and although it's overwhelming he is too happy to second guess his good fortune.

5. A Part Of That

Cathy tells us of Jamie's devotion to his work, and despite being a struggling actress she relishes in the fact that she's a part of his life and in turn a part of his career. The  majority of the song, we hear her excitement and pride over seeing him achieve his dream and sharing in his success.  We hear the juxtaposition of her pride and her being lost in his success.  She seems to make her frustration into a tongue in cheek joke because despite how she feels about her own failing career (and sometimes that she feels second best to his writing) she cannot deny that Jamie is becoming seriously successful and achieving status.  Towards the end of the song we hear her suddenly realise that she might not be a big a part as she thought before as reflects all her 'I'm A Part of that' and then ponders 'Aren't I?' as he slowly becomes less fixated on her and more so on his career.

6. The Shmuel Song

As a writer Jamie tells a long allegory of a man who wastes his life doing small jobs instead of working towards his ultimate goal.  At the end, he reveals that this is a metaphor for Cathy and tells her she shouldn't lose hope because she is brilliant and talented.  Cathy is constantly being rejected at her auditions and has lost all hope and motivation to accomplish her own dreams.  Jamie takes this opportunity to remind her that he believes in her.

7.  A Summer in Ohio

Cathy sings of her career struggle.  We see Cathy in Ohio singing about how awful it is, but how proud she is of seeing Jamie's book in her local store and despite having offers of romance she remains very loyal to Jamie.

8. The Next Ten Minutes

 

This is the only song of the production where the two characters interact in the same time frame.  Marking the centre point in the play and their relationship. This song takes us through the proposal, acceptance and marriage itself.

9. A Miracle Would Happen

Directly after the marriage Jamie talks of the struggles of being Cathy's husband.  He is obviously very in love with her, but there are many other women in his life that tempt him.  Warning signals start sounding in my head.

10. Climbing Uphill

This song is genius. We hear Cathy tell us of her struggles with her career, her relationship and her position as Jamie's supporter.  She is having no joy with work, and constantly facing rejection.  She hears less and less from Jamie but is constantly being forced to go to many events celebrating how fantastic Jamie is while he ignores her own struggles.  She starts coming to the realisation she is putting herself on the back shelf to celebrate her husband.  She fears her ambition and drive is gone and she is only destined to be a silent wife and mother - her own worst nightmare.

11. If I Didn't Believe in You

Finally picking up on Cathy's struggles Jamie attempts to reassure her that he does believe in her talent and motivation to be successful but feels she no longer supports him creatively.  We see a lack of understanding and communication leading to intense frustration and anger towards each other.  Jamie tries to show Cathy what she means to him, but this always ends up making her feel devalued and exhausted.

12. I Can Do Better Than That

This is Cathy's Shiksa Goddess style song.  Full of hope and excitement about her future with Jamie at the beginning of their relationship.  She tells us of an old friend's humdrum life, and an old lover and highlights how she can do better than that.  We see Cathy's infatuation with Jamie and how he is a breath of life into her stale life and gives her life new meaning.

13. Nobody Needs To Know

In this song we find out about Jamie's infidelity.  The song starts with soft piano chords as he wakes up beside another woman.  We see Jamie's desperation to be close to someone as he hasn't been feeling close to Cathy in a long time.  He realises his marriage is over due to what he has done but feels like he ultimately had no choice.  Jamie also decides that he will not tell Cathy about him cheating on her, and we hear him prepare to meet Cathy in Ohio (In "See I'm Smiling")

14. Goodbye Until Tomorrow / I Could Never Rescue You

We finally meet Cathy on the first meeting with Jamie.  Full of hope and infatuation she sings of their obvious connection whilst singing a upbeat song.  She sings that she has been waiting for Jamie and finally feels herself opening up him which for her is liberating. 


This is bittersweet for the audience as we know how it ends, and in contrast to this we see Jamie at the end of the relationship completely broken and exhausted.


Jamie's final song is him writing the break-up letter while Cathy is smiling not knowing what is to come.  He says he could never rescue Cathy, all he could do was love her which in the end wasn't enough for either of them.


The play ends with both songs being sung in harmony together.
Jamie says Goodbye forever,
Cathy says Goodbye Until Tomorrow.