The Last Five Years...Who's To Blame?

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The Last Five Years...Who's To Blame?

Posted: 8/15/05 at 11:18am

Whose fault is the breakup? Who do you recognize with? Was Jamie driven to cheat on Cathy because Cathy was suffocating him? Jamie or Cathy?

BSoBW2: I punched Sondheim in the face after I saw Wicked and said, "Why couldn't you write like that!?"

re: The Last Five Years...Who's To Blame?

Posted: 8/15/05 at 11:25am

They are both 'at fault' if one is to finger point.

However both are also so whiny as to be termed 'The guest that won't leave'. Can you imagine being stuck for a weekend with these two? Yuck.

This is one of those shows where the good score cannot hide that the characters are really insufferable.

"If my life weren't funny, it would just be true. And that would be unacceptable." --Carrie Fisher

re: The Last Five Years...Who's To Blame?

Posted: 8/15/05 at 11:27am

I think your just supposed to figure that out for yourself. It was just written to be a sort of doomed relationship, they each had problems. That's the whole "two sides to every story" thing I guess. You see that they both had faults but neither one ultimately was at fault. I think everyone can recognize with traits of Cathy's and traits of Jamie's...thats what is so awesome about the show.

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Posted: 8/15/05 at 11:41am

When I saw the title, I thought you were saying "Who is to blame for 'The Last 5 Years' being made?" or something and I came in all defensive. HaHa.

Anyway, I'd go with the both sides thing, but cheating is definitely the step of breaking it up, so Jaime more. In the opening song, Cathy is singing about how he's onto new things and she's still hurting.

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Posted: 8/15/05 at 11:47am

I agree, Act0r721. I think that their marriage was falling apart... however, at the same time, this was no excuse for Jamie to cheat and when he did that, he finalized the break up.

"You know, a little orphan girl once told me that the sun would come out tomorrow. Her adopted father was a powerful billionaire, so I supressed the urge to laugh in her face. But now, by gum, I think she might have been on to something!" --Reefer Madness

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Posted: 8/15/05 at 11:48am

i agree. Jamie did cheat and realized that he couldn't live with Cathy after he cheated. But Cathy sort of drove him to cheating.

I don't know. Since I'm a girl, I side with Cathy and say that Jamie caused the break up.

<--- the set of A Midsummer Night's Dream that I was assistant stage manager for during the 2007 season at the STNJ outdoor stage.

-Dre- You must remember all the same that at the crux of every game is knowing when it's time to leave the table... And it's important to be artful in your exit. No turning back, you must accept the con is done... It was a ball, it was a blast. And it's a shame it couldn't last. But every chapter has to end, you must agree.
~Dirty Rotten Scoundrels~
There's a special kind of people known as show people. We live in a world full of dreams. Sometimes we're not too certain what's false and what's real. But we're seldom in doubt about what we feel.
~Curtains~
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~A Tale of Two Cities ~

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Posted: 8/15/05 at 12:24pm

God, I lvoe this musical! Part of it's amazingness and how incredibly moving it is, is the fact that it's difficult to pinpoint the reasons for the the destruction of their relationship. It's so much like real life.

But I think it comes down to both of them: niether of them had the desire or intention to really WORK at thier relationship. They were too into themselves and thier own careers that they never stopped to honor, support, and cherish the other.

artistic dominion

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Posted: 8/15/05 at 2:00pm

When my friend and I did this show as our high school senior project, we spent a lot of time talking to each other in character, as if we were in marriage counseling. It really helped us put ourselves in the situation of a marriage, which is so emotionally draining when it's not working that it's just all consuming. I must say, it was much easier for me as an actor, playing Jamie, because I was going forward. I start out happy and excited and gradually work up to that emotional dead end. My poor friend, Megan, who played Cathy, had to start the whole evening as an emotional wreck, and somehow work her way out of it and get to being naive and happy at the end/beginning. Well, at least she left the theater each night happy, where as I was miserable.

Anyway, I think it's interesting to note that we as an audience are never told that Cathy knows about Jamie's cheating. I would definitely say we're able to believe she suspects, but don't forget that HE ends things with HER. He leaves her the note, and it says nothing about cheating. He never confesses to her onstage. I approached it as Jamie's conscience telling him that he couldn't stay in the marriage, and that he didn't want to.

We as actors thought it was vital for each of us to believe we (the characters) were right. It was very hard for me, and very hard for Cathy once she realized she couldn't use the cheating excuse because she never knew about it. As Jamie, I saw Cathy as in constant need of affirmation and approval. Aside from that, she takes a certain amount of pleasure in breaking down and being built back up by someone else. Jamie is just not much of a nurturer. It's not his fault, it's just his nature. He tells her that he loves her as much as he can, but on a certain level, Cathy doesn't want to believe it because then she can't force Jamie to say it all the time. She needs him to tend to her all the time, and it's still never really going to be enough.

That's what 'I Could Never Rescue You' is all about, Jamie's realization that he can never really convince Cathy that she's good enough for him.

This is all just my personal interpretation, and it might all be wrong. Just my two cents!

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Posted: 8/15/05 at 2:21pm

I disagree about Cathy knowing. At the beginning of "I could never rescue you" doest he metion the girl he cheated on cathy with? I just always thought she found out.

"I wouldn't let Esparza's Bobby take my kids to the zoo...I'd be afraid he'd steal their ice cream and laugh."- YankeeFan
"People who like Sondheim enjoy cruelty."-LuvtheEmcee

#10

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Posted: 8/15/05 at 2:43pm

In See I'm Smiling, Cathy gives several hints that she knows Jamie is cheating on her. I guess it's debateable whether or not she is being needy and suspicious or if she is actually aware, though.

#11

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Posted: 8/15/05 at 2:46pm

There's always fault on both sides as to why a relationship didn't work, but I'd have to say that in this case Jamie should take most of the blame.

#12

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Posted: 8/15/05 at 3:25pm

I just want to say one quick thing--

It is totally wrong to say Cathy "drove" Jamie to cheating. (Pretending that they are real people, for a second,) Jamie is a person who makes his OWN decisions and HE is the one who decided to cheat. No one can "make" you cheat... therefore, he decided to give up and find love elsewhere. Whether or not the marriage was dead at that point yet is another story, and if it was, who's fault it was up to that point is also another debate, however Jamie is completely at fault for cheating.

I just get annoyed by that comment because I feel like in our somewhat chauvanistic society it is easy to say that a woman "drove" her husband to cheat and it almost seems like he is given an excuse for it, but it is NOT Cathy's fault at all that he cheated on her. It is entirely his. Period.

#13

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Posted: 8/15/05 at 3:30pm

it's both of their faults. as someone already said, they were both into themselves and their own seperate lives to concentrate on the one they were supposed to be sharing with each other.

cathy could've gone to jamie's dinner parties. jamie could've spent more time in Ohio with her. cathy was afraid of losing her sense of independence, while jamie was doubting cathy's support.

My name is Jamie. NYU class of 2011!!!

Updated On: 8/15/05 at 03:30 PM

#14

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Posted: 8/15/05 at 3:59pm

There was a really great thread about this a while ago. It had people debating every side and aspect. I will try to find it.

EDIT: Ok, I couldn't find it, but it WAS a great thread!

"This table, he is over one hundred years old. If I could, I would take an old gramophone needle and run it along the surface of the wood. To hear the music of the voices. All that was said." - Doug Wright, I Am My Own Wife

Updated On: 8/15/05 at 03:59 PM

#15

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Posted: 8/15/05 at 4:04pm

You puppetmaster.

BSoBW2: I punched Sondheim in the face after I saw Wicked and said, "Why couldn't you write like that!?"

#16

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Posted: 8/15/05 at 5:15pm

I hardly think it was Jamie's fault! I mean Cathy was so attentioned craved! I'm not saying that it was smart for him to have had an affair, but can you blame him. I really believe that she for the most part was to blame, but he could've handled the situation better!

#17

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Posted: 8/15/05 at 5:21pm

Yes, but (to generalize) the vast majority of straight women crave love and attention and the vast majority of straight men crave respect and support. Cathy, though she may have felt respect for Jamie, did not show it by supporting his endeavors. Likewise, Jamie, though I'm certain he loved Cathy, did show it by paying her attention. So it's still both of thier faults, no matter how you slice it.

artistic dominion

#18

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Posted: 8/15/05 at 5:28pm

Mrs. Norbert Leo Butz, I totally disagree. It's Cathy's fault that she was attention craved. You shouldn't depend on someone else to make you feel better. It's not Jamie's fault that he "could never rescue [her], no matter how [he] tried..."

(I agree that it is both their faults... altho Jamie sealed the deal w/ the cheating.)

EDIT: I think I read that post wrong. I agree, Mrs. Norbs, that Jamie couldn't and shouldn't completely take care of Cathy, however, it was entirely his fault for cheating..

Updated On: 8/15/05 at 05:28 PM

#19

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Posted: 8/15/05 at 5:29pm

Jamie definatly sealed the deal.

artistic dominion

#20

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Posted: 8/15/05 at 5:30pm

There is absolutely NO excuse for cheating whatsoever!

"For me, THEATRE is an anticipation, an artistic rush, an emotional banquet, a jubilant appreciation, and an exit hopeful of clearer thought and better worlds." ~ an anonymous traveler with Robert Burns

#21

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Posted: 8/15/05 at 5:33pm

Well, based on the cast recording and not having seen the show, I'd say it's Jamie's fault. IMO Jamie wasn't really ready to settle down for good, since he sings about how he's still attracted to other women and apparently can't ignore that attraction. Cathy never mentions another guy, or being unhappy with Jamie really except for when he doesn't pay enuogh attention to her. Yes, some could argue she's attention-craved, but Jamie also couldn't truly be giving her enough with all his parties and book-signings. Who knows.

"It breaks my heart to see a grown man dressed as a Taco." -David Sedaris
I love Les Miserables.
My new pic is me(on the left)at my last dance recital:(

#22

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Posted: 8/15/05 at 6:06pm

I agree with you Cindy.

Jamie always talks about other women, yes he is in love with Cathy but he still wants more. In the end, he cheated on her. So there are two aspects you can bring up for the cause of him cheating. That the marriage wasn't working out and just his own sexual desires. When he cheated on Cathy, it appears it was an excape route. He couldn't handle everything anymore and finally broke down and cheated on his wife.

Clearly in the song "Nobody needs to know" one could tell he isn't exactly happy with what he did. Hence the "Cathy just look at me now..." Also in that song when you can tell it's an escape route because he never says he loves her, but he does say MAYBE I could be in love with someone like you, when to Cathy he outfront eventually said he was in love. To me it just seems he was just escaping from reality. Yet the next morning it all came back and hit him in the face.

Yes Cathy liked attention, but one must not forget that Jamie was the one who convinced her to get a career in theatre. So he was part of the reason she became so attention craved. Along with him becoming a famous author the two didn't get much time for themseleves.

Also I think Cathy suspects about the cheating as well. In the show when Jamie wanted Cathy to come to his office when Elise was there (or whoever...) she says no, that he should come home. She suspects something is going on, but she doesn't say it. The two just obviously weren't ment to be together.

So as everyone has said. It was both of there faults, yet Jamie sealed the deal.

Updated On: 8/15/05 at 06:06 PM

#23

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Posted: 8/15/05 at 6:17pm

Dont worry, men can also drive women to cheat, so its not exactly chauvenistic

"I wouldn't let Esparza's Bobby take my kids to the zoo...I'd be afraid he'd steal their ice cream and laugh."- YankeeFan
"People who like Sondheim enjoy cruelty."-LuvtheEmcee

#24

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Posted: 8/15/05 at 6:36pm

eh, I guess I kinda always thought Jamie was kind of self centered but I've never like blamed it on him. As said before, neither of them are entirely to blame. The entire point is to observe a relationship through the eyes of both of the people involved.

Judy, Liza, Barbara, Bette, these are names I shant forget.

#25

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Posted: 8/15/05 at 8:00pm

I was never sure until I saw the production in New Brunswick this spring. The way Colin Hanlon played Jamie, and the way Sarah Litzsinger played Cathy, made me side with Jamie. By a lot. Sarah's Cathy was so whiny and demanding, so unwilling to sacrifice for Jamie or understand what he needed and wanted to do, and what he couldn't help. Meanwhile, Colin's Jamie, while obviously interested in other women, was much more gentle, more attuned to Cathy's needs and simply frustrated and saddened that their relationship was fizzling out. By the middle of the show, I could totally see why Jamie would leave Cathy, I wanted him to. There hardly seemed to be any love there at all, and the love that did appear was much more from Jamie's side. When you consider what they were going through, how Jamie's career was rising while Cathy's was falling, you may think that Jamie was a total ****for doing what he did, but she simply could not find happiness, and could not be happy for Jamie. I'll never forget the way Colin, as Jamie, said the part of the show where he talks about how he cannot be unhappy simply because she can't find happiness. It was said with such sadness and regret. I couldn't help but realize that he wanted it to work, but he could not make it work, and before he lost himself in it too, he got out. Maybe not in the best way, and obviously, it's not all Cathy's fault, but I sure was on Jamie's side.

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