On Wednesday the 28th October I finally got to see one of my favourite musicals- The Last Five Years. This musical is one of the most beautiful yet criminally underrated musicals there is. It follows actress Cathy and writer Jamie through their fluctuating relationship, with Cathy’s perspective going from the end of the relationship to the beginning and Jamie’s going from the beginning to the end; whilst that may sound confusing to start, once you have that knowledge its really easy to follow and the way the musical is written it is done in a really smart way.
The musical is a great one to have playing with all this going on as there are only two actors involved in the whole musical!

The two incredible cast members are Molly Lynch and Oli Higginson, I really liked these two in their roles and i thought they were really well cast.

First up we have Molly Lynch as Cathy, she was amazing! I thought she really embodied everything I’d expect from a Cathy. None and I mean none of Cathy’s songs are easy to sing yet Molly made it look easy- even opted higher on a couple of the notes! The opening song ‘Still Hurting’ is such a big song which hurts even more when it is sung live and you can hear all the emotion and the stillness in the theatre where everyone is hanging off Molly’s every word, especially during I’m still hurting. I have to say one of my favourite moments in her portrayal of Cathy was definitely her version of ‘Climbing Uphill’ which is a song near the end of the musical; it is probably one of if not the hardest songs in the score and it was incredible to hear such a talented performer not only slay the high notes but opt to make them higher!

Overall: I loved Molly’s portrayal of Cathy, I thought her vocals we’re out of this world and that they really blew me away.

As Jamie we have Oli Higginson which was another really great casting choice. Oli had the perfect amount of cheesiness and nerdiness you’d expect from a Jamie. Like Cathy none of Jamie’s songs are easy to sing yet Oli performed them all amazingly! Whilst you don’t always agree with Jamie and his actions you couldn’t help love him because of Oli’s portrayal! I think vocally one of my favourite moments of his was the song ‘Nobody Needs To Know’ which is Jamie’s breakup song to Cathy. I thought his vocals were really strong during this song, you could hear the pain and from the relationship as well as the guilt over what he had done. Another Jamie moment I really enjoyed was ‘The Schmuel Song’ where Jamie is telling this really elaborate tale of a man named Schmuel in an attempt to cheer Cathy up; it’s a really fun performance to listen to and a really fun performance to watch and it just brings so much joy and happiness, Oli’s portrayal certainly brought that fun and joy.

Overall I adored Oli’s Jamie. I thought he did a really great job at capturing and portraying everything you would want from a Jamie.

Top 3 Moments

I Can Do Better Than That: This has been my favourite song on the score for months now and it was incredible to hear live.

The Schmuel Song: This was a really fun moment in the musical and really brought a lot of smiles to the audiences faces.

Goodbye Until Tomorrow/I Could Never Rescue You: This is a really underrated song from this musical! I thought their combined voices worked really well together and that it ended the show on a high and a great performance.


Overall

This musical live was everything I have ever wanted it to be, I’ve been a fan of it for the last 5 years (I’m so sorry I couldn’t resist) and have always wanted to see it and I now I finally have and it in no way disappointed! It is such an intimate and special musical that instantly captures your heart and this production was no different!

Molly and Oli were extraordinary performers that excelled in these roles! So, so glad I got the chance to see this musical as it was really something special and I adored it!

YOU CAN GET THE SOUNDTRACK TO THE FILM HERE;


(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)