I had been waiting a long time to see this show, so the expectation level was high, which can often lead to disappointment. Not so with this show. I am also *very* familiar with the cast recording, and pretty accustomed to the way the actors perform the songs on there. Again, that can sometimes diminish the enjoyment of the way the people on stage go at the material. Not so with this show.
 Blythe Wilson as Cathy |
Tyley Ross and Blythe Wilson were fantastic. I loved Tyley’s progression from exuberant young writer in love to the disillusioned, serious man at the end, and also Blythe’s reverse progression, from the bitter wife to the excited girlfriend in pigtails taking her boyfriend home to meet the parents. They were helped by the staging and sets, which, though minimal, were effective. The stage consisted of two walls, on which snapshots from the couple’s life together appeared. From the wall, they pulled out props to act as a pier, a car and a bed, and from the floor, a bench. The main setting on stage was a table, of which good use was made. Also adding to the atmosphere were the costumes, which really wonderfully showed the changes in age and year.
Most of the time, only one of the two actors was on stage at a time. When the song involved any interaction with the other person, they simply addressed the air. But it was well done, in a way that you could picture exactly where the person was and what they were doing.
The music all sounded fabulous, and I was struck anew with how beautifully crafted this show is, how the lyrics and musical motifs come back later in the show in such a poignant way. It’s an amazing show!
As I mentioned, snapshots of the couple were projected on the back walls. This helped keep the time switches straight, as well as offering a nice visual accompaniment to the stories the actors were telling in their songs. As the show began, the snapshots progressed forward in time – 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and finally April 2004. Cathy enters and sits at the table, where there is a note from Jamie and his wedding ring. She was dressed in a black suit with a skirt. Her “Still Hurting” was excellent, a little restrained, but with lots of emotion just beneath the surface. In the middle of the song, Jamie enters on the other side of the stage, in jeans and with a Polaroid camera. It’s their first date. He takes a shot of “Cathy”, while the Cathy from five years later watches sadly. This shot becomes “Our First Date, 1999”, which is the setting for the next song.
 Tyley Ross as Jamie |
Tyley’s “Shiksa Goddess” was very nice – he’s full of energy, very young and sweet. “See I’m Smiling” was with Cathy sitting on the pier…she was a little nervous at the beginning, but gradually reassures herself. When she reached the “And so we’ll start again this weekend/And just keep rolling along” lines, it cut to Jamie at the table, placing a call to a prospective agent. Back to Cathy until “We’ll have tonight”, and then to Jamie, where he’s calling a friend to tell him that he’s moving in with Cathy. He’s so excited and happy, and then Cathy gets into the really angry part of the song – it was nicely juxtaposed.
If I thought Tyley had energy in “Shiksa Goddness”, it was nothing compared to “Moving Too Fast”! He was dancing around the stage, climbing on the table, singing into his cordless phone – very infectious and charming. For the moment, the audience is still pretty firmly on Cathy’s side, but this helped to bridge the gap.
For “I’m a Part of That”, Cathy was waiting tables. This number, of all the ones in the show, I actually thought fell a little flat. It was nice, but not particularly memorable. Or maybe I just feel that way because the next song is one of my favourites, “The Story of Schmuel”. Tyley did this perfectly! It’s a pretty long song, but it never felt tiresome, and his accent was very impressive. And at the end, when he opened up the box, I actually cried, it was so sweet! This was the first song where I felt you really got a sense of why Cathy had fallen in love with him.
However, Blythe also had the audience in the palm of her hand with “A Summer in Ohio”. It takes place in her dressing room, while she’s dressing for West Side Story. When she sang the “He wants me, but he ain’t gonna get me” bit, she actually kind of yelled it behind her, as if she wanted Richard to hear it!
 “The Next Ten Minutes” |
“The Next Ten Minutes” started with Jamie on the bench alone. He did the opening dialogue, and then went down on one knee with the ring, still singing to the “imaginary Cathy”. Then Cathy came on stage, walking forward slowly and watching the scene before joining it for her bit. This is the only time in the show where the actors actually interact, and they did it wonderfully. You totally believed their joy and their excitement, even though you knew what would happen. And finally, Cathy sat down and did her dialogue, while Jamie walked away backwards, watching her. Yeah, I admit it, I cried again!
“A Miracle Would Happen” – Jamie’s sitting in a bar with his laptop, working. This was pretty cute, since he was really trying to be good, but having a little bit of trouble. Cathy’s audition was also very cute, her pantomime hand actions and everything, and then her audition in “Climbing Uphill” was hilarious. After that audition, it cuts to Jamie, phoning her from his agent’s to tell her about a great review. He wants her to come and celebrate, but she is suspicious and refuses. This segues directly into the “I will not be the girl…” segment, and then of course into “If I Didn’t Believe in You”, all of which I thought did a really nice job of showing Jamie’s side of the story. Tyley did a fantastic job with this song too, you could really feel his frustration, his exasperation, and yet how much he did still care about her. Just perfect.
 Jamie and Cathy |
For “I Can Do Better Than That”, they were in the car on the way to visit her hometown. Cathy was wearing jeans and pigtails, and looking quite different from the woman at the beginning of the show. Then the snapshot switches to a different woman, and Jamie wakes up in bed. I thought Tyley did a great job of this too. “Nobody Needs to Know” is probably the most damning song in the show on either side (Karen heard one woman behind her say “jerk” when the scene started), but he managed to convey some of the complexity of what Jamie was feeling.
When Cathy started “Goodbye Until Tomorrow”, there was a snapshot of Jamie, wearing what he had been in the opening scene where he was taking the picture of her. I thought that was a nice touch. This song didn’t actually move me *quite* as much as I thought it would. I thought Blythe could have been a little more excited, but she did sing it beautifully. On the other side of the stage, Jamie is at the table writing his goodbye note. He is wearing a suit and is very sad and tired, a huge contrast from the beginning of the show. They both say “goodbye”, and he leaves, while she lingers just a little longer.
Listening to the recording, I’ve always been able to see both sides pretty clearly. After seeing it on stage, I actually felt that it was maybe a little more Cathy’s fault! That surprised me. Karen said that she thought that the first time she saw it, but this time she felt more like Jamie was in the wrong. I think that just speaks to the complexity of the piece and of the relationship. I guess in the end, it’s nobody’s “fault” – people just change, and if the other person doesn’t change as well, there’s not much anybody can do about it.
“There was a guy sleeping in the front row!
When I jumped off the table during “Moving Too Fast”,
it was right by his head, so I really stomped down
to try to wake him up. It worked!”
– Tyley Ross
The Cast:
| Jamie | TYLEY ROSS |
| Catherine | BLYTHE WILSON |