Last Sunday, Yana and I watched The Last 5 Years at the RCBC Theater starring Nikki Gil as Cathy Hyatt and Joaquin Valdes as Jamie Wellerstein.
Until now, I can’t stop listening to this Last 5 Years playlist on Spotify.
The musical is of alternating viewpoints of Jamie and Cathy; Cathy’s viewpoint starts from the day Jamie left her, while Jamie’s viewpoint starts from the day he first met Cathy. The musical opens with Still Hurting, and the song found a way to rip through my heart. It’s then followed by Shiksa Goddess with Jamie ecstatic that he has met Cathy. Cathy and Jamie’s song when they first met each other were so easy to fall in love with, as if I’m also falling in love. In the early stages of their relationship, they simply wanted to stay to together and be forever blissfully in love.
If you drove an R.V., that wouldn’t matter
If you like to drink blood, I think it’s cute
If you’ve got a powerful connection to your firearm collection
I’d say, Draw a bead and shoot
I’m your Hebrew slave, at your service
Just tell me what to do
I say, “Hey hey hey hey!
I’ve been waiting for someone
I’ve been praying for someone
I think that I could be in love with someone
Like You
– Shiksa Goddess (Jamie)
You don’t have to put the seat down
You don’t have to watch the news
You don’t have to learn to tango
You don’t have to eat prosciutto
You don’t have to change a thing
Just stay with me
I want you and you and nothing but you
Miles and piles of you
Finally I’ll have something worthwhile
To think about each morning
– I Can Do Better Than That (Cathy)
But when the relationship progressed they both wanted more from each other. Maybe this is what happens with unrealistic expectations in love that’s being perpetuated. Often do cartoons and romantic comedies focus on finding “the one” and not with sticking through hardships with “the one” through constant communication. They both were so happy when they found their potential better half, but when they eventually tied the knot that’s when everything regressed, which also points out that the marriage is more important than the wedding. Weddings are also important, just not as important as the marriage behind that facade. Their vows were so beautiful, and it breaks my heart knowing that they broke up because of the small problems they did not address early on which eventually worsened.
Kudos to Joaquin Valdes and Nikki Gil who without a doubt were perfect to play Jamie and Cathy (P.S. I am fangirling over both of you right now!). Hands down to Jason Robert Brown who wrote this beautifully heart-shattering musical of how magical yet disastrous relationships can be.
I also found out that it’s going to be a movie starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan. (Eeeeep, I’m so excited!)
abyss of beeatriss 