Students to perform relationship musical

The Last Five Years, a musical by Jason Robert Brown, will be presented by Northwestern College theatre Oct. 22 and 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the England Theatre.

The musical follows the five-year relationship of Jamie Wellerstein, an up-and-coming novelist, and Catherine Hiatt, a struggling actress. Their artistic temperaments both connect and separate them as the relationship progresses.

Each character sings throughout nearly the entire production. Among Jamie’s songs are Shiksa Goddess, about breaking his Jewish mother’s heart by falling in love with a Protestant girl, and Moving Too Fast, about the meteoric success of his first novel.

Cathy sings A Summer in Ohio, a sarcastic ditty about having to spend the summer away from Jamie as part of a motley theatre company, and Climbing Uphill, about trudging from one unsuccessful audition to another.

Sarah Fisher, a senior music major from Aplington, Iowa, has the role of Cathy. Jamie is being played by junior theatre major Andrew Stam, Oskaloosa, Iowa. The duo proposed the production as a student-initiated project and are directing themselves; they’re accompanied by junior social work major Erica Graber, Marion, S.D., on piano.

Tickets for The Last Five Years are free; reservations are not required. Doors open 30 minutes before show time, and seating is first-come, first-served.