After watching “The Importance of Being Earnest” by Dragonfly Theatre last year,  I was eager to watch this year’s production of “The Last 5 Years”.  I was still sad missing out on Trouble at the Tropicabana by the Saigon Players, so it was a real treat to watch a play again.

I didn’t hear about “The Last 5 Years” actually until it was already the show week!  Luckily, my theatre buddies (Soki, Rina, and Jelda) were available to watch — except Ria.  I wonder if I can volunteer next time in the promotion?

This time the play was held in the Comedy Club (I think) along Vo Van Tan St.

The place looked interesting with the metal chairs —

The International Choir and Orchestra provided the live music —

A huge screen on top of the stage can be seen so that the Vietnamese translation can be read by the audience.

Here’s a shot of the set —

“The Last 5 Years” is a musical that tells the 5-year tale of lovers, Jamie and Cathy.  What’s interesting is that Jamie acts out their love story from the first year to the last, while Cathy tells their story starting from the 5th year to the start of their relationship.  I so am not a fan of “flashback” type of shows but this one was directed really well.  The lyrics and music were by Jason Robert Brown.

Cathy lamenting over the break-up with Jamie

Cathy was performed by Vanessa Tantillo and she just had this lovely, crystal clear voice that I enjoyed so much.  Hearing her sing was like listening to a recording.  She is awesome!

The character Cathy is a struggling actress and in this next shot she was doing an audition.  It was my favorite scene!

The director, Brian Riedlinger performed the role of Jamie.

Brian is perfect for the role and sang wonderfully.  His acting was en pointe especially on the comic parts — really good!

The scene that they were together was towards the middle of the story where Jamie and Cathy propose to each other in Central Park.

It was nice to see them both in one scene finally!

“The Last 5 Years” only had 3 shows and I hoped that a lot watched because it was really a superb production.

We were not allowed to video the play but I saw this clip so you’d have an idea what the play was all about.

Will be missing out a lot by not being in Manila — like the Phantom of the Opera (sigh) — that’s why I’m real happy that we get to watch such productions here in Saigon.  The Little Prince is next by fall!  That’s something to look forward to! 🙂