What To Know About This Production
WELCOME TO GEELONG LYRIC THEATRE SOCIETY!
On behalf of the Geelong Lyric Theatre Company and our “The Last 5 Years” Creative Team, we welcome you and thank you for your interest in auditioning for… “The Last 5 Years” – GEELONG #tl5ygeelong
The Geelong Lyric Theatre Society (GLTS) is a community-based theatre company with a well-established reputation for presenting high quality and affordable Musical Theatre. The GLTS has been established for over 40 years. We aim to provide an accessible creative platform for both established and developing creatives and performers in our local region, which includes providing opportunities for first timers and experts alike. Traditionally, we have presented two full scale musical productions each year. We are more recently scaling back on our production output and opening-up our options to also incorporate smaller productions in alternate theatre spaces. We will continue to emphasise Community focus and our role in providing opportunities for all.
We have staged many wonderful productions in Geelong over our 40-year history and some of our most recent productions include:
• Award winning “Song Contest – The Almost Eurovision Experience” • Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat • The Wizard of Oz • Legally Blonde • Jesus Christ Superstar
Our creative team have gone (and will go) to great lengths to ensure that this production has a positive and encouraging audition, rehearsal and performance process. We pride our selves on being transparent, honest, supportive, educational and open minded… yet with the target of the best show possible for Geelong audiences always leading our thoughts. We are happy to give feedback and offer constructive advice where and when appropriate and encourage anyone and everyone to audition and feel welcome.
INTRODUCING OUR “The Last 5 Years” CREATIVE TEAM!
Producer – Lisa Hunter Director – Paul Watson Musical Director – Brad Treloar Set Design and Staging Concepts – Paul Watson Artistic Design and Scenic Art – Lisa Hunter Sets/Properties Supply – What’s On? Prod. Co. and Leftfield Props Locker Lighting Design - TBA Sound Design – Ben Anderson Marketing Manager – TBA
THE LAST 5 YEARS – A BRIEF SYNOPSIS!
The Last Five Years is a musical written by Jason Robert Brown. It premiered at Chicago's Northlight Theatre in 2001 and was then produced Off-Broadway in March 2002.
The story explores a five-year relationship between Jamie Wellerstein, a rising novelist, and Cathy Hiatt, a struggling actress. The show uses a form of storytelling in which Cathy's story is told in reverse chronological order (beginning at the end of the marriage), and Jamie's is told in chronological order (starting just after they first meet). The characters don’t interact except for a wedding song in the middle as their timelines intersect.
Cathy is sitting alone lamenting the end of her marriage ("Still Hurting"). We shift to meet Jamie. It is five years earlier and he has just met Cathy. Jamie is overjoyed to be dating outside his Jewish heritage ("Shiksa Goddess").
Cathy and Jamie are in Ohio. It is her birthday and he has come to visit her as she works in a show there ("See I'm Smiling"). She is anxious to fix any problems in their marriage, but she becomes angry when Jamie tells her he must go back early to New York. During breaks in the music, we see a younger Jamie, talking to a literary agent about his book.
Jamie is moving in with Cathy. He comments on how lucky he is that everything is going right for him; his book is being published and his life with Cathy seems too good to be true ("Moving Too Fast"). Elsewhere, Cathy is making a call to her agent: her career isn't going the way she planned it.
Cathy is attending Jamie's book party. She sings about how he ignores her for his writing, but she will always be in love with him ("I'm a Part of That").
Jamie and Cathy celebrate their second Christmas. He tells her a new story he has written about an old tailor named Schmuel and he gives her a Christmas present: a watch, promising to support her as she follows her dreams of acting. ("The Schmuel Song").
Cathy is in Ohio and writing to Jamie. She describes to Jamie her disappointing life in Ohio among her eccentric colleagues ("A Summer in Ohio").
Jamie is sitting with Cathy in Central Park. Jamie proposes to her and, for the first time in the musical, they sing together ("The Next Ten Minutes"). They get married, exchanging vows to stay together forever. Jamie is facing temptation from other women, especially now his career as a writer has escalated ("A Miracle Would Happen").
Cathy, meanwhile, is auditioning for a role ("When You Come Home to Me"). She is getting down about the rejection she faces as an actress and complains to Jamie ("Climbing Uphill").
Jamie speaks to Cathy on the phone, trying to convince her that there is nothing going on with him and his editor, Elise. He wants to celebrate a book review but Cathy refuses to go out. Jamie is fighting with Cathy, trying to get her to listen to him. He accuses her of being unsupportive of his career just because hers is failing. Though his words are harsh, he promises her that he believes in her ("If I Didn't Believe in You").
A younger Cathy is in the car with Jamie, who is going to meet her parents. She tells him about her past relationships and hopes not to end up in a small-town life like her friend from high school ("I Can Do Better Than That"). She asks Jamie to move in with her.
Near the end of the relationship Jamie wakes up beside another woman ("Nobody Needs to Know"). He tries to defend his actions and blames Cathy for destroying his privacy and their relationship. Jamie promises not to lie to this woman and tells her that "I could be in love with someone like you," just as he does to Cathy in "Shiksa Goddess." Cathy is ecstatic after her first date with Jamie. She sings goodbye ("Goodbye Until Tomorrow"). She proclaims that she has been waiting for Jamie her whole life. Simultaneously but five years forward, Jamie sits in their shared apartment writing laments over the relationship ("I Could Never Rescue You"). As Cathy waves Jamie "goodbye until tomorrow", Jamie wishes Cathy simply "goodbye".
The musical style draws on a number of musical genres, including pop, jazz, and classical, klezmer, Latin, Rock, and Folk. The orchestration consists of piano, acoustic guitar, fretless bass, two cellos, one doubling on celesta and tubular bell, and violin, doubling cymbal.
THIS PRODUCTION WILL RUN WITH FULL ORCHESTRATION!
• "Still Hurting" - Cathy • "Shiksa Goddess" - Jamie • "See I'm Smiling" - Cathy • "Moving Too Fast" - Jamie • "I'm A Part of That" - Cathy • "The Schmuel Song" - Jamie • "A Summer in Ohio" - Cathy • "The Next Ten Minutes" - Jamie & Cathy • "A Miracle Would Happen/When You Come Home to Me" - Jamie/Cathy • "Climbing Uphill/Audition Sequence" - Cathy • "If I Didn't Believe in You" - Jamie • "I Can Do Better Than That" - Cathy • "Nobody Needs to Know" - Jamie • "Goodbye Until Tomorrow/I Could Never Rescue You" - Jamie & Cathy
CHOOKAS! COME SHARE YOUR LIFE WITH US FOR THE NEXT TEN MINUTES!
Performance Dates
- Sep 27 Friday
- Sep 27 Friday 7:30 PM
- Sep 28 Saturday 7:30 PM
- Oct 4 Friday 7:30 PM
- Oct 5 Saturday 7:30 PM