The story explores a five year marriage between Jamie, a rising novelist, and Cathy, a struggling actress. Cathy travels backwards in time (beginning the show at the end of the marriage) and Jamie travels forward(starting just after the couple's first meeting.) The two characters' stories intersect at their wedding in the middle of the show.
George Walker talked with Shawnee Theatre actor Miranda Crispin about the show. Crispin's brief biography describes her as a performer, director, and teacher. It goes on to say that she enjoys interdisciplinary collaborations and spicy food. Walker asked her about her summer activities and "The Last Five Years."
"This summer is a busy one for me," began Crispin. "I've just come from a production to do this one and I'll be leaving for two other shows." "Although "The Last Five Years" is a boy-meets-girl-loses girl…in this case divorces girl, it still has a freshness. Jason Robert Brown has created real characters that seem like people you or I might know."
"It is true that the story lines are going in opposite directions, but again it's to Brown's credit that the action is always clear. His songs reflect the character's place in their chronological and emotional paths so aptly. By the way, I'm happy to say that we'll have live music with the show. Our music director will have the main keyboard and there will be a second keyboard player along with a guitarist."
With that, the interviewer had to get back to the radio and the interviewee had more rehearsal. So, there just wasn't time to talk about those culinary preferences.