Looking back at ‘Five Years’

Tom Titus

Taking, perhaps, a cue from Harold Pinter’s “Betrayal,” only in a

decidedly lighter vein, the upcoming production at the Laguna

Playhouse examines the making and breaking of a romantic relationship

-- starting at the end and working backward.

Actually, only the woman’s story proceeds in reverse. The guy’s

perspective is viewed in the traditional time line in “The Last Five

Years,” an award-winning new musical opening next weekend.

This parallel-universe look at romance -- written by Jason Robert

Brown and directed by Drew Scott Harris, with musical direction by

Tom Griffin -- has become a major hit in regional theaters across the

country. The Laguna production will be its first in California.

Philadelphians particularly fell in brotherly love with “The Last

Five Years.” In Philly, the show won the 2003 Barrymore Award as best

musical, a commendation seconded by the Philadelphia Weekly, and it

was on the Philadelphia Inquirer’s list of the top 10 shows of the

year.

The stage won’t be crowded -- the show features a cast of two.

Rick Cornette and Kim Huber comprise the entire company for the

musical.

Huber will be remembered as the troubled Shelby Thorpe in Laguna’s

production of “The Spitfire Grill” last season.

Director Harris also is familiar with the playhouse, having staged

its 2000 production of “The Show Goes On: A Portfolio of Theater

Songs by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt.” Griffin also has a “Spitfire

Grill” connection -- he was the musical director of Laguna’s West

Coast premiere.

Backstage, Narelle Sissons returns as scenic designer -- she

designed the set for the playhouse’s production of “The Secret Order”

last spring. Lighting designer Paulie Jenkins will be working on her

38th Laguna production over the past decade. Costumer Dwight Richard

Odle (eighth playhouse season) and sound honcho David Edwards (13th)

complete the crew.

Previews will be offered at 2 and 8 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and

Friday (no performance New Year’s Eve) and opening night is Jan. 3,

at 7:30, by invitation only. The show’s regular run is 8 p.m.

Tuesdays through Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, and 2 and 7 p.m.

Sundays until Feb. 1.

The Playhouse won’t be dark on Monday evenings -- the hit

one-woman show “Late Nite Catechism” has been held over for a fourth

time, now scheduled to run through Jan. 26.

For ticket information on both shows, call the playhouse at (949)

497-2787.