The Last Five Years Review: Rachel Zegler and Ben Platt Make Time Stand Still
Following her electrifying performance in Evita, Rachel Zegler returns to the London Palladium stage, this time joined by musical theatre superstar Ben Platt for a special 25th anniversary concert production of Jason Robert Brown's acclaimed two-person musical, The Last Five Years. This stirring revival presents a masterful exploration of love and loss through opposing chronological perspectives.
A Tale of Two Timelines
The production's ingenious structure follows novelist Jamie, portrayed by Ben Platt, and actor Cathy, played by Rachel Zegler, as they navigate the rise and fall of their five-year relationship. The musical's groundbreaking format presents Jamie's story moving chronologically from initial infatuation, while Cathy's perspective unfolds in reverse, beginning with the weary aftermath of their breakup. The two narratives converge only once, at their wedding ceremony midway through the performance.
Jason Robert Brown himself directs and conducts from the piano, positioned within Bretta Gerecke's multi-level set design that separates the eight-piece orchestra across various platforms. Central staircases evoke the urban apartments and city spaces where the couple's story unfolds, creating a visual metaphor for their emotional distance.
Powerful Performances and Emotional Depth
The actors make their initial entrances from opposite sides of the stage, meeting briefly for an embrace that foreshadows their eventual wedding union. Platt then retreats to plangent string accompaniment as Zegler delivers her stark opening number, Still Hurting, staring painfully at his departure path. Throughout this semi-staged production, absences are powerfully accentuated, with Zegler capturing the particular frustration of a partner whose unresolved emotions go unheard by an already-departed ex.
Platt bursts back onto the stage with his giddily comical solo, Shiksa Goddess, featuring Latin-inspired rhythms as he anticipates his Jewish family's reactions to his passion for gentile Cathy. "My grandfather's rolling, rolling in his grave," he sings in mock-horror baritone, while Zegler serves more sardonic humor during See I'm Smiling, flashing a fixed grin to a musical ping.
Artistic Pursuits and Personal Toll
As the narrative progresses, Brown makes acute observations about partners sharing or being shut out from each other's successes. The production explores belief in another person and oneself, along with the emotional toll of professional rejection. This is particularly evident during Cathy's spiraling interior monologue in a number that frames Brown as the pianist at her audition, highlighting the vulnerability of artistic pursuit.
The musical demonstrates a profound understanding of how time passes, measured in critical minutes, ambling evenings, late arrivals (her), early departures (him), and what Cathy calls "Jamie-land" - the reverie of artistic pursuit as the author stares out of windows positioned around the backdrop. Brown even incorporates a talking clock, its ticking hands mimicked by Platt during his performance of Jamie's short story, The Schmuel Song, with Mark Smith's latticed lighting conjuring a deserted tailor's shop.
Memory and Musicality
Like a memory play, the format creates a jumble of joy and pain over an interval-free 90 minutes. Even at their most mournful, Brown's eight-strong band maintains a sparkling quality reminiscent of romance's residue. The musical landscape features rollicking piano, pop-cabaret fizz, and even a daffy high-kicking number performed by Zegler with a cuddly toy, yet a jewellery-box fragility persists throughout.
Both actors undergo multiple costume changes, appearing together in formal wedding outfits for The Next 10 Minutes, performed with exquisite stillness that captures the production's emotional core. While album recordings of the musical cleanly isolate Jamie and Cathy's individual stories, this staged version allows for more overlap between the characters, though this slightly weakens the overall structural impact.
A Convincing Bond Despite Separation
It represents a significant feat for actors who share minimal stage time to convey a convincing romantic bond, yet Platt and Zegler accomplish this with remarkable skill. The result leaves audiences with a sense of individual sadness rather than mourning the relationship's end itself, emphasizing how five years represents substantial time, particularly during one's twenties.
While not achieving Benjamin Button-level transformation, Zegler convincingly grows younger before our eyes as her timeline moves backward, while Platt gradually loses his initial lightness as his narrative progresses forward. The casting of these musical theatre megastars generated extraordinary demand, with the show selling out at lightning speed despite not holding a traditional press night.
The London Palladium engagement continues through March 29, with subsequent performances scheduled at Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on April 3, and Radio City Music Hall in New York on April 6-7. This anniversary production reaffirms The Last Five Years as a timeless exploration of love's complexities, delivered through two extraordinary performances that genuinely make time stand still.
