for the next ten minutes, i'm gesticulating with my left hand.
I finally listened to the last five years in order, sequentially, all at once, the way it was intended to be experienced. It was really interesting. Jason Robert Brown really is quite a genious composer in a lot of ways. But what i really think makes this play worth a damn is that it makes musical theater a legitimate art form for me. Dont get me wrong, i like a lot of musical theater, however it is generally not what i consider thoughtful, poignant, or profound. It is generally more about entertainment and spectacle and high drama, and it's generally not very down to earth. The relationships are somehow larger than life and not convincing. The last five years, however, strips away the sets, the dance numbers, the special effects, and the huge orchestras. What does that leave then? Well, it leaves two people telling an incredibly personal and real story with a simple score and a couple of good voices. Plus, it's presented in such a way that it effectively gets across its point without shoving bloviated themes in the audiences face. The backward/forward narration of the story is able to say "it's more complicated than all that" without having a song called "it's more complicated than that". So yes, I've decided i like it. A lot. And i'm happy to have found a play that i can actually consider a profound piece that requires a bit of thinking that also has some damn fine music in it.