{"id":279593,"date":"2026-04-22T02:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T02:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/279593\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T02:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T02:49:08","slug":"rachel-zegler-and-ben-platt-bring-the-hollywood-bowl-to-life-in-the-last-five-years-the-ucsd-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/279593\/","title":{"rendered":"Rachel Zegler and Ben Platt bring the Hollywood Bowl to life in \u2018The Last Five Years\u2019 \u2013 The UCSD Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

The dynamics of love and heartbreak are so deeply woven into the human experience that they are often woven into the art that we create. A masterful example of this is Tony Award-winner Jason Robert Brown\u2019s \u201cThe Last Five Years,\u201d a two-person show created in 2001.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The musical has had various productions, most notably an off-Broadway run in 2002, a 2014 film starring Jeremy Jordan and Anna Kendrick, and a Broadway production in 2025. In commemoration of its 25th anniversary, Rachel Zegler and Ben Platt took on the lead roles in a limited concert staging of the show. After a run at the London Palladium, Zegler and Platt made their way to the Hollywood Bowl for a one-night-only show on April 3.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Directly inspired by the fallout of Brown\u2019s marriage, \u201cThe Last Five Years\u201d follows the story of aspiring actress Cathy Hiatt and writer Jamie Wellerstein, who fall in love, marry, and divorce over the course of five years. In a unique form of storytelling, Jamie\u2019s account of events progresses in chronological order, while Cathy\u2019s runs in reverse chronological order, their timelines intersecting at a duet on their wedding day.<\/p>\n

Although the set design was limited, Brown\u2019s direction, alongside stellar performances and live orchestra, fully immersed an audience of over 17,000 people into the show\u2019s artistry. Despite my usual disdain toward the Hollywood Bowl due to its size and layout, I felt wholeheartedly invested in the story and its characters.<\/p>\n

Given the structure of the show, the two characters were very rarely on stage at the same time, taking turns performing their respective songs, and even more rarely did they directly interact throughout the show. Despite this, Platt and Zegler made the emotional connection between Jamie and Cathy incredibly obvious. \u201cThe Next Ten Minutes\u201d \u2014 the only song during which the characters interact \u2014 is the centerpiece of the story. The track takes place during their wedding, sharing a single moment when they promise each other the rest of their lives amid the chaos of the show.<\/p>\n

Zegler perfectly embodied Cathy\u2019s emotions from start to finish, her pain and heartbreak especially tangible in the opening number \u201cStill Hurting.\u201d As the show advanced, Cathy\u2019s sorrow over their failed marriage visibly morphed into optimism as she returned to the romantic beginning of their story. Zegler\u2019s comedic timing throughout the show was impeccable, sparking laughter from the crowd \u2014 specifically during \u201cA Summer in Ohio,\u201d when she sarcastically details her misery while working in a small town in Ohio. I was also in complete awe of Zegler\u2019s performance throughout, as the score allowed her to showcase her powerful vocal prowess to its full potential.<\/p>\n

Platt \u2014 a critically acclaimed performer who, after winning an Emmy, Grammy, and Tony for his performance in \u201cDear Evan Hansen,\u201d is just an Oscar away from EGOT status \u2014 similarly brought his character to life. He skillfully balanced Jamie\u2019s charming ambition and wit, which make his character all the more frustrating when his flaws as an unfaithful and selfish partner emerge through Cathy\u2019s perspective. While Platt\u2019s vocals were impressive, I felt his performance fell a little flat during the more emotional songs, especially in comparison to Zegler\u2019s deeply raw characterization of Cathy. However, Platt\u2019s talent still shined through. He elicited laughs from the audience during \u201cThe Schmuel Song,\u201d when, in an attempt to encourage Cathy\u2019s dreams of being an actress, Jamie tells a fictional tale of a tailor named Schmuel who is given unlimited time. Platt did an exceptional job of encouraging the crowd to sympathize with a generally unlikeable character. His performance highlighted the intimate feel of the show despite the large venue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reimagining the show in an unconventional concert setting shifted the spotlight onto the performers, allowing Platt and Zegler\u2019s talent shine and Brown\u2019s lyrical and musical abilities to take center stage. The show\u2019s harrowingly realistic portrayal of the dissolution of a once promising relationship is widely relatable. This production offered a fresh rendition of the beloved musical that tells an inherently human story.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo by Baran Bashar<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The dynamics of love and heartbreak are so deeply woven into the human experience that they are often…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":279594,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[8122,48,52,51,47,50,49,78850],"class_list":{"0":"post-279593","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-hollywood-bowl","9":"tag-la","10":"tag-la-headlines","11":"tag-la-news","12":"tag-los-angeles","13":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","14":"tag-los-angeles-news","15":"tag-the-last-five-years"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279593\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/279594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}