For “Seinfeld” star Jason Alexander, directing is one of the most compelling parts of show business. After 30 years of screen and stage roles, he said the acting work he’s been given is no longer the most challenging.

“I could live almost without the performance part. The part that excites me is all that discovery process,” Alexander said at a press conference held in the rehearsal room for his latest project.

Alexander is directing Syracuse Stage’s production of “The Last Five Years.” The musical opens May 29 for a three-week run. This is the first time the Stage has produced “The Last Five Years,” which was added onto Syracuse Stage’s 2018-19 season as the seventh and final production on the lineup.

“The Last Five Years” follows one couple’s love story over a five-year period. Through more than a dozen musical numbers, the play intertwines two overlapping timelines — one starting at the beginning of the relationship, and the other starting from the end.

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The musical is typically performed with only two actors and a handful of musicians. Alexander has increased the cast size by adding two dancers — shadows of the lead characters Cathy Hiatt and Jamie Wellerstein. This addition eliminates moments where either of the actors would normally sing by themselves.

Alexander hopes this change will help make the plot’s timeline clearer for the audience while opening up possibilities for staging opportunities. No actor will perform without someone else to engage with on stage, which turns each monologue into a scene, he said.

But before Alexander committed to his vision for the show, he asked Jason Robert Brown, playwright and composer of “The Last Five Years,” for permission.

“Why he said yes to me, I don’t know,” Alexander said. “But I’m awfully flattered that he did.”

Georgia-based actress Hanley Smith is starring as the “singing” Cathy. Her earliest memories of “The Last Five Years” cast album are from the Williamstown Theatre Festival, where she’d spend her days off driving with one of her good friends, the soundtrack blaring from the car’s speakers. These moments made her fall in love with the musical.

Not long after those summer drives through the Berkshires, Smith’s friend took his own life.

“For the longest time, I could not listen to ‘The Last Five Years’ anymore because I associated it with him and it made me too sad,” Smith said. About 10 years later, the opportunity to audition for the show came up. She saw this as a chance to honor her friend.

Experimenting with this reimagined version of the show has been a learning process, Smith said. As a creative person, she appreciates having the freedom to contribute her own ideas during rehearsal.

Alexander works with the cast to help them tell the story dynamically and honestly, Smith said. She described the rehearsal room as a safe space to try new things, adding that Alexander is quick to throw on his many different hats — including actor, director and choreographer.

Theater has been a part of Alexander’s life since he was a kid growing up in New Jersey, not far from New York City. He said his career fantasies were rooted in theater.

“I thought if I was lucky enough to be able to make a living doing live performance on the stage, I’d be a very happy man,” he said.

Syracuse Stage invited staff, cast, trustees and community members to a meet and greet following the first day of rehearsal for “The Last Five Years.” Haley Robertson | Editor-in-Chief

Alexander has spent years on Broadway, including runs in “Fish in the Dark,” “The Producers” and “Jerome Robbins’ Broadway,” for which he won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical.

For Alexander, his acting experience informs his directing style. He said he aims to give actors the guidance and pathway toward total artistic control of every moment of their performance.

“I think you need to have that kind of a blueprint in order to let it go and release into the magic of spontaneity and improvisation,” he said.

Robert Hupp, artistic director of Syracuse Stage, met Alexander several years ago when they worked together at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre. At a Syracuse Stage staff event last week, Hupp said he’s been eager to find an opportunity to work with Alexander again in Syracuse.

“The fact that it’s ‘The Last Five Years,’ and the fact that Jason has a particular insight into this play that I think is revolutionary for this production, excites me even more,” Hupp said. “And I can’t wait to share this story with our audience here in central New York.”

Published on May 15, 2019 at 12:22 am

Contact Haley: hrober03@syr.edu