Nightingale Arts Collective presents The Last Five Years at cSPACE
By Hannah Caparino, November 5 2025—
Nightingale Arts Collective is a growing theatre company co-founded by Melissa Wang Jackson and Meaghan Schulz that has grown to put on shows that aren’t commonly produced in Calgary. At the cSPACE Studio Theatre, the collective will be producing Jason Robert Brown’s musical, The Last Five Years. The musical has had many interpretations, productions, and even a movie adaptation that was released back in 2014. Melissa Wang Jackson and the cast and director of the show spoke with the Gauntlet about how the story of The Last Five Years had resonated over the years and will create conversations in Calgary.
“We like to choose shows that haven’t been produced in Calgary,” said Wang Jackson. “It’s only been done once in the last ten years [and] we also tend to choose shows based on the talent … that we want to support and showcase.”
Cast members, Adam Fisher and Lauren Woods, play the two titular characters of Jamie and Catherine (Cathy). Each provides some insight into their characters, how they’ve internalized their struggles, and how they’ve attempted to make the characters their own.
“I really want to make it my own, it makes it a bit of a challenge … but I think that’s the best way to keep it fresh,” said Woods. “In the show she’s auditioning and as a singer it’s really close to home and trying to find this balance … trying not just following this guy [Jamie] and having this ambition.”
“The show as a whole is a great parable for relationships as a whole. The ups and downs of relationships are echoed in this show. [Jamie’s] faults are very human,” said Fisher.
The show follows Jamie and Cathy as they navigate their relationship and careers, for Cathy we see her at the end of the relationship and Jamie at the beginning. Jamie is an optimistic writer while Cathy is an actor who is trying to find her footing and Wang Jackson discussed how the show displays both their perspectives. Director, Adam Isbell, looks at how the story references tangible conflicts that audiences can relate to.
“We’re all human,” said Isbell. “I think because the show is not a farce … it makes it really easy to tap into our emotions.”
Isbell discussed how despite previous iterations, he’s learnt that his directorial approach had been by learning and studying what he doesn’t want to do. Working with actors like Fisher and Woods, who Wang Jackson describes as strong actors and singers in their own right, makes the show all the more engaging, intimate, and vulnerable. At cSPACE’S Studio Theatre, audiences can expect that and more.
“I love that space [cSPACE Studio Theatre]! It’s a very intimate feeling theatre and has great seating and it’s going to give them [the audience] a real professional theatre experience,” said Wang Jackson. “But the intimate space will really bring the story forward.”
Jason Robert Brown’s musical was initially brought to the stage in 2002 and was brought to Broadway in the spring of 2025 after numerous off-Broadway performances. Fisher and Woods join in the ranks of the next set of actors to portray the couple. For the two actors, the emotions that the two characters feel is written into the lyrics and instrumentation. Audiences can experience the tension, hope, and desperation in the music, making the overall show more powerful. Wang Jackson, compliments the duo’s statement by reemphasizing how life is incredibly complicated and layered.
“It [The Last Five Years] takes you through really deep emotions. Mirroring life in a very emotional and inspirational [way] in the end,” said Wang Jackson.
Nightingale Arts Collective’s production will be playing at cSPACE from Nov. 6 to Nov. 9. Tickets can be found on their website.