A Summer in Gananoque: The Thousand Islands Playhouse takes on ‘The Last Five Years’
A trip down memory lane, with a fork in the road—which path will you follow, his, or hers? I recently set out to the Thousand Islands Playhouse to see their production of The Last Five Years. Written and composed by Jason Robert Brown, this tumultuous story of two lovers fighting to stay with each other through the years has long been a theater favourite. Jamie (James Daly) and Cathy (Tess Benger) are a young couple taking on the world of career success and failure and trying not to let it tear them apart.
Benger and Daly themselves are able singers, though I fear for the sustainability of their vocals. Both can sing the parts, but don’t elevate the material in any identifiable way. I worry about the lack of understudies; for a month-long run of a fully sung through production of demanding vocals, I feel there is too much strain in both of their voices to sound lasting and healthy. It may be the effect of their respective visible bracing for the higher notes: Daly specifically tenses up in preparation for a note which he later upscales anyway. It was a confusing watch—I couldn’t discern their true capabilities for the visible anticipation of the next vocal challenge.
However, these small losses are greatly made up for by the utter charm of each performer. Benger as Cathy is ridiculously fun, physically involved, dorky, and sweet. Her take on “A Summer in Ohio” is ferociously acted. She and Daly share very few scenes together, but make the absolute most out of their joint stage time. In the glimpses we do get of their relationship, we clearly see two people who, at a time, really loved each other. Daly comes alive during “A Miracle Would Happen,” bright, hilarious, and eye-catching. He dims it down to a real and contemplative moment in “No One Needs To Know.” Daly comfortably handled the highs and lows of Jamie’s character arc.
I always love being able to see the band, so I was excited to see how nicely perched they are upon the on-set balcony. Consisting of Patrick Bowman on the keys, Jeremy Draw on the bass, Lisa Draper as the violinist, Jeff Hamacher as the cellist, and Erik Patterson as the guitarist, the team is fantastically strung together. The sound mixing was gorgeously done by sound designer Richard Fern. Jason Robert Brown’s compositions deserve to be heard in complete clarity, and I am delighted at their execution.
With a beautifully lit and well articulated stage concept, the production twists a “door to door” set configuration and stages it in a runway theatre. Set design by Joshua Quinlan errs on the side of realism like a cut-out dollhouse: on one side, we have the doorway leading to the inside of the couple’s shared apartment, and on the other, the door leading out. This mirrored set is intense and thought provoking— caught in an ouroboros of time and space, these lovers are constantly leaving and returning to each other. This choice elevates the performance in every way, not only allowing for a more intuitive sightline of the dual sided set, but making the overall world of the play feel wider.
The Last Five Years is practically a narrator show: Jamie and Cathy tell us the story of their relationship. They acknowledge us, joke with us, confide in us. There is no reason for complete immersion, so the opposite audience bank does not distract from the story—in fact, it adds to it. In moments of clever lighting design working alongside a healthy dosage of fog, the opposite audience bank isn’t even visible.
The true moments of invisibility actually exist between the two performers. Like shadows in each other’s lives, Benger and Daly are almost never in light together, or even onstage at the same time. They dull and fade in each other’s memories, but live ferociously on their own. Lighting design by Jeff Pybus is a gorgeous mix of diegetic and non-diegetic light sources.
Contributing to another aspect of aesthetics, Quinlan also designed the costumes. I assume this production is set in the original 2000s setting, as the costumes are very drab. I would blame Quinlan, but it was a stylistically-devoid era—perhaps they just both dress poorly for historical accuracy. I hope the bright red shoes with Benger’s wedding dress have some sort of narrative significance which I missed, because otherwise they are a massive fumble, and perhaps the biggest sign of her marriage being doomed in the entire production. Daly does look quite dashing in his wireframes.
This is a fine execution of an esteemed musical. I enjoyed myself and recommend seeing it. Generally, the performers need to be able to handle more vocal weight than they are at present, but are uplifted by the candor of their performance and a very talented band. Lovers of The Last Five Years should check out this new take from the Thousand Islands Playhouse.
‘The Last Five Years’ plays at the Thousand Islands Playhouse until August 30, 2026. Find tickets and more information here.
