Music and the Fictive Dream: The Last Five Years
If there was one musical that had a death grip on my poor romantic middle school heart, it was The Last Five Years . This American made 2002 off-Broadway (turned movie, turned Broadway) musical written and composed by Jason Robert Brown tells the tragic five year love story of Jamie and Cathy, two twenty-somethings trying to make it big in New York City. While the production is technically a musical, the story is told in a somewhat operatic style meaning that the music is the sole storyteller and there is no dialogue which progresses the story. One of the most appealing aspects of this musical is that the story is not told chronologically. Instead, the songs sung by Cathy begin at the end of their relationship and the songs sung by Jamie begin at the beginning of their relationship. This musical tackles many different challenges that a relationship may face like infidelity, jealousy, and falling out of love. However, it also tackles the glory of relationships, like the passion, the b
