Claire Wright and Reagan Ball listen to Landon Scholar sing one of the numbers from “The Last Five Years.” Photo credit: Erin McCracken, Evansville Courier & Press
After Jacob passed away in 2013, his older brother Reagan wanted to help get the Wish Fund started. He was a senior at North High School in Evansville, and he decided as part of his senior service-learning project to put on a musical. He and his fellow classmate Claire Wright choose The Last Five Years as the production, which revolves around the story of two New Yorkers, Cathy and Jamie, who fall in and out of love with each other over the course of a five-year period. Cathy’s story is told in reverse order, while Jamie’s story is told more traditionally, in chronological order.
Landon Scholar sings one of the songs from “The Last Five Years.” Photo credit: Erin McCracken, Evansville Courier & Press
Reagan created a video backdrop for the show, while Claire found props and designed the flier for the show. North High graduates Landon Scholar and Lauren Wright (Claire’s sister) played the two leads in the show. At the time, Landon was a vocal-performance student at the University of Evansville and Lauren was performing in a national touring company of Mamma Mia!
“I think it’s healing for all of us, really,” Tiffany Ball said. “It’s something that we can do to continue to support and lift Jacob’s name up, help support the people around him and continue to spread his joy throughout the community.”
Reagan Ball and Claire Wright confer with Sue Schriber about the direction for “The Last Five Years.” Photo credit: Erin McCracken, Evansville Courier & Press
The Last Five Years was performed at the Academy of Innovative Studies in Evansville on October 22-23, 2013.