River & Rail Opens Season with Powerful ‘The Last Five Years,’ Announces Major Gift

If you reflect back on the last five years of your life, which moments would you capture as the most pivotal in getting you from there to here? That’s one of the questions posed by The Last Five Years, the musical opener for River & Rail Theatre’s 2026-27 season. As I took in the play this past weekend at the Knoxville Botanical Garden’s Carriage House, River & Rail was preparing to announce a major step forward in their progress towards their own theater space with a $4 million dollar donation.

I knew I was in for something special during the production when Anna Catherine Smith musically meditated on her character’s relationship stageside to the audience members next to me. The intimacy of the space and actors Smith and Francisco Negron’s vulnerability captured both the fragile and enduring threads that make up a relationship in a world of individual goals and ambitions, a common theme that modern couples navigate. Much like the snowglobe in the middle of the production, the space at the Carriage House allows audiences to peer into the bubble of pressure that characters Cathy and Jamie feel across five years of their relationship.

Celebrating the 25th anniversary of its 2001 Chicago premiere, The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown is “so important to musical theater culture and what it’s done for the regional theatre market and community theaters,” Director Ethan Graham Roeder told me. During our conversation, Roeder reflected on the influence of the play, noting, “There’s a whole melodic line pulled directly from this show and injected into Hamilton.” We also discussed some of the choices made by River & Rail in its production.

With Broadway level vocals by Anna Catherine Smith and Francisco Negron, I strongly recommend that you get a ticket quickly. Shows are selling out. Two more weekends are available. Tickets can be purchased here.

A Deeper Look at The Last Five Years

Without giving too much away, The Last Five Years chronicles the relationship of a young couple, Cathy and Jamie, over five years. River & Rail Director of Development Ashley Helton helped the audience by explaining the musical’s time-bending narrative twist. Cathy’s side of the relationship is told in reverse order while Jamie’s is told in linear time. 

Roeder told me that many productions use a circular stage with a clock motif; River & Rail is using a traverse configuration with audience seating on two sides of an extended linear stage “to solve this element of time.” The traverse configuration in the Carriage House along with a minimalist set allows for a very intimate setting that focuses the audience on the main characters.

Cathy and Jamie’s movement along the timeline uses both lighting and choreography to reflect this time shift as the two lovers attempt to connect (they physically interact only once). Cathy’s opening song reveals the fate of their relationship, and the play lays out major moments that made audience members laugh and cry. I even heard some gasps. The audience is left to ponder the nature of relationships and why some succeed while others fail.

Here are some look-fors from my conversation with Roeder as you go to take in this masterpiece. Small, colored dots are projected to show pinpoints along each character’s pathway. I also noted the use of lighting, designed by Sarah Oldford, that painted the actors in saturated colors or in muted/black & white. 

Roeder explained the saturation and desaturation, “at the emotional peaks; our costumes, our lighting, the level of the band … would be very saturated, and as both characters move into their more reserved period, we’d strip that away so you would end up saying a lot of black and whites very muted blues.” He noted that the effect on the retina forces theatregoers to refocus after each major moment.

The characters also appear to age and de-age as the play progresses. Roeder told me that they were “really intentional” in how the actors depict Jamie and Cathy. Mannerisms and spine posture reflect the weight of the expectations of each character’s life in the context of the moment. Photos and papers frame the top of the stage. Roeder said that the “weight of society, the weight of their careers is pressing down on them.” A total of four boxes that the actors use to create beds and chairs as well as providing a vertical lift will be used throughout the performance without repair. Roeder noted that the wear and tear will reflect the relationship.

By the end, each character’s secrets have been laid bare as each memory drops to the ground in the form of photo and pages suspended above the stage. We follow the progression of their careers and the impact it has on the relationship through these memories. Framed by the images, a smoky haze permeates the performance area during the entire performance. Roeder said the haze creates a bubble in which the characters’ lives are examined. 

In one scene, Jamie shakes a snowglobe, another choice River & Rail made (traditionally, the item is a watch). For me, the falling papers and photos felt like seeing the snowglobe. Roeder said that the snowglobe is meant to represent the couple’s relationship being shaken. Where will it land?

I asked if Cathy and Jamie are ever really in love.

Roeder said they were. “They start at 23, and they end at 28. They’re both career driven people and there is a broader conversation we had in the rehearsal room about doing the right thing. What are the right steps when you’re stepping into a career and feeling that you have a partner by your side?”

The play also mirrors itself as the narrative shifts in time. The major inflection point happens in the middle of the play, the only time Jamie and Cathy directly interact and “from that point on they do all of their movement backwards.” The action shifts to the other end of the timeline at that moment as well.

Seating is also key, Roeder said. The experience from the front row (where I sat) will provide a different view than the top row. Audience members will see “tiny little movements that Jamie will do when she’s responding over here that you can really only catch if you’re in the back row.” The front row allows you to process the emotions of the actors close up. I already have a ticket to see the play near the end of its run and will select the back row to change my experience.

Roeder challenged theatergoers with the following questions:

“Really focus in on your last five years. If you had to pick five images from five years, what would they be? If you had to pick seven moments (each of them have seven songs, right)? What do you remember? You’ll notice that some of these are basic days. It’s just one of the Christmases. So how do you define yourself over five years and look forward to the next five? What images are you trying to perfect?”

As I noted at the start, the play will leave you to ponder which moments define the relationships in your life and how each impacts those ties to one another.

A Growing Membership Base

River & Rail offers a season membership that includes unlimited entry for every play in the season. Helton said, “Membership is more than seeing a show! Our members receive complementary drinks, guest tickets, unlimited tickets to see a production, special events, and more.” The memberships are critical as they build towards a larger space in the coming months. For more information on the benefits of membership, check their website.

Helton shared that River & Rail sold 111 memberships for the 2025-26 season and set a stretch goal of 200 memberships sold by the start of The Last Five Years. They blew through that number, doubling to 222. As I write this article, they are just 50 memberships away from tripling to 333 memberships.

If you aren’t sure about a full membership, come see The Last Five Years. An offer is being sent to anyone who has purchased a ticket for a prorated membership (guests of ticketholders can also receive the offer by emailing Helton). I upgraded to the membership after seeing The Last Five Years. Membership sales end October 11.

Helton added, “our staff is obviously excited, but even more so, we are blown away by the support from our company and are eager to continue to create excellent experiences for people who give us the greatest gift of their time when choosing to see shows with us this season.”

River & Rail Receives $4 Million Dollar Donation from Boyd Family

In support of their mission this past Monday, River & Rail announced a major step forward in their $7.5 million dollar campaign to renovate the 1925 Spanish Eclectic-style Sterchi-Audigier House at 2651 E. Magnolia Avenue into their new home. The Boyd Foundation and members of the Boyd family have contributed $4 million dollars towards the renovation, bringing their total to $5.5 million dollars raised. The campaign will also save the space from demolition and extend the arts east of downtown. 

According to the release,

“Needless to say, I am thrilled that this area of Knoxville will be home to such a fantastic theater as River and Rail,” said Jenny Boyd, one of five board members of the Boyd Foundation and an entrepreneur who 15 years ago founded Boyd’s Jig & Reel, a Scottish pub in Knoxville’s Old City.

“The quality of their shows is unsurpassed,” she said. “I hope through their productions that many adults and children will be able to experience live theater in their very own neighborhood. We are excited for River and Rail to be a part of East Knoxville!”

Seating capacity will increase to 240 seats in the new facility and actors will have a rehearsal studio, dressing and green rooms. Patrons will also have access to a lobby with full bar.

From the press release, Joshua Peterson, founding artistic director of the River & Rail Theatre, said, “We are thrilled that they share our vision for a world-class arts complex in East Knoxville on Magnolia Avenue. We intend to honor their commitment by producing theater of the highest standard, telling stories that are relevant to our entire community, and building new educational programs for both youth and adults. Thanks to the Boyd family’s generosity, that future is now within reach.”

Helton told me that “construction will begin in February 2027 on our forever home. Our estimated opening for this new space in the late spring of 2028.” You can see early renderings of the space in Inside of Knoxville’s coverage from Urban Guy’s article in February, 2025.

In a few years, when I reflect back on the last five year’s of River & Rail’s impact on Knoxville’s growing theater scene, much of those thoughts will be filled with the beauty of this performance of The Last Five Years and this inflection point for the theater’s progress.

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