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‘The Last 5 Years’ opens Friday at PowPAC

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Experience the beginning and end of a relationship in a new way in PowPAC, Poway’s Community Theatre’s new musical “The Last 5 Years,” opening Friday, Jan. 22.

The show runs five weekends, closing Sunday, Feb. 21, at PowPAC’s theater at 13250 Poway Road, in the Lively Center. The theater is on the second floor; an elevator is available in the back of the building. Performances are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays.

Tickets are available at www.powpac.org, and are $28 general admission; $25 for students, seniors and active duty military. Prices include ticket handling charges. There is a $2 surcharge for opening night, which includes a post-performance reception with the cast.

Written by Jason Robert Brown, “The Last 5 Years” uses an interesting chronological perspective to tell the story of Cathy (Sarah LeClair) and Jamie (Cory Hibbs) from the beginning and end of their relationship. While Jason’s side of the story is told in normal chronological order, Cathy’s story goes in reverse, starting at the end of the relationship and working back toward the beginning.

The couple only sync up chronologically twice in the show — in the middle when they are married, and at the very end.

“At first, it can seem disconcerting,” said LeClair. “It’s the same story but with different points of view. She starts at the painful part (of the story) and moves back to joy. Her final goodbye is his good night, his is he’s leaving. It’s a cool device.”

LeClair said the show does not have a happy ending, but it spaces out the joy so the audience will never be too sad.

In addition to starring in the musical, Hibbs is the show’s director and LeClair the musical director. They will also accompany each other on the piano during the show’s many songs. “The Last 5 Years” is produced by Lynn Wolsey.

“I ran the first few months of rehearsals, and (Hibbs) ran the back half, while we figured out blocking and the various nuances to the show,” she said.

Rather than have someone else accompany their songs on the piano, LeClair said she and Hibbs decided to accompany each other, as both are talented pianists. “We said, what if we played the piano for each other with no outside accompanist? It means we’re the only two people on stage. I don’t know if anyone else (who has performed this show) has ever done this,” said LeClair.

This is more difficult than one might expect, due to the complexity of the score. “Jason Robert Brown is infamous for writing incredibly complex piano pieces,” she said. “We really had to buckle down and practice.”

LeClair said the difficulty of the piano pieces changes as the emotions on stage change, with the happiest songs being the most difficult. “It gets easier for me to play, and more difficult for (Hibbs) to play (as the show goes),” she said.

The show features a wide variety of music styles, including rock, jazz, rockabilly and klezmer.

“The Last 5 Years” won a Drama Desk Award in 2002, and experienced a Off-Broadway revival at Second Stage in 2013. It was made into a movie in 2014 starring Jeremy Jordan and Anna Kendrick, which is available to stream on Netflix.

LeClair compared “The Last 5 Years” more to an operetta than a musical, since there is some dialogue as well. “There’s a he said, she said,” said LeClair.

Despite the sad ending, LeClair said the audience will want to root for the characters to work things out. “You want them to figure things out. There’s so much to identify with, so many nuances. Everyone will relate to each character in a different way. (The show) is so modern and realistic, it’s very true to life with a lot of relatable situations.”

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