Youngstown State University Theatre double-cast the roles of Cathy and Jamie in the two-character musical "The Last Five Years" with, from left, John Bearss and Lacey Farina playing the characters on Feb. 16 and 18 and Lauren Ladd and Mitchell Sharp playing them on Feb. 17 and 19 for its four-performance run. (Submitted photo)

Two different pairs of actors will play a couple going in different directions — literally — for Youngstown State University Theatre’s production of the musical “The Last Five Years,” which opens Feb. 16 in the Spotlight Theater.

Even double cast, Jason Robert Brown’s work has fewer actors than most musicals. And despite a story told almost exclusively in song, director Matthew Mazuroski said the performers’ acting abilities are just as important.

“I can’t say the singing comes in second, but if you don’t have strong acting, the songs can land flat and don’t take you on a journey and don’t surprise you,” he said.

The movie chronicles the relationship, marriage and break up of Jamie, an aspiring novelist, and Cathy, an aspiring actor. Jamie’s career begins to take off while Cathy is trapped in a cycle of unsatisfying auditions, and their different trajectories only exacerbate their personal problems.

“It’s a musical that looks at what can happen in a relationship where one partner’s career and dream is taking off and one has stalled,” Mazuroski said. “There are so many of those moments for Cathy, and Jamie’s not there when she needs him because he’s off doing something else.”

To amplify those different paths, the characters alternate songs with Jamie telling the story in chronological order from their first meeting to their breakup while Cathy’s songs start at the end of their relationship and go backward to the beginning.

Brown is a three-time Tony Award winner whose Broadway credits include “Parade,” “The Bridges of Madison County” and “Mr. Saturday Night.” Since the musical’s 2001 debut in Chicago, it has enjoyed two Off-Broadway productions and was adapted into a film in 2014 starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan.

It’s a show that presents a wealth of challenges. The characters have to portray a believable couple while sharing very little stage time together, and that is even more difficult when working with college-aged actors.

“The students are in their early 20s and one who’s 19, I think, and there’s an amazing amount of growth and development that happens between that age and these two individuals in their mid-, late-20s,” Mazuroski said. “I’m trying to help them understand that. They’ve all been in relationships, but this is a bit different. Marriage is a bit different. It’s interesting to help them discover those things they haven’t yet experienced.”

There also are vocal challenges.

“It does require stamina, the ability to sing it well without straining the voice,” he said. “We wanted to make sure they’re not overtaxed. It’s almost like an opera in that way.”

That’s one of the reasons University Theatre decided to double cast the roles with John Bearss of Rootstown and Lacey Farina of Schenectady, N.Y., playing Jamie and Cathy on Feb. 16 and 18 and Mitchell Sharp of Beloit and Lauren Ladd of Hubbard playing them on Feb. 17 and 19 during the four-performance run.

Mazuroski ended up changing the acting partners from how he initially cast the show.

“I initially thought the pairing would be one way, but as we went through rehearsals, it was clear that swapping the pairs would work,” he said. “One pair was more expressive physically and had a similar sense of humor. The other pair was a little bit more stoic but equally talented. It’s all about the personalities and how they meld.”

YSU also is taking the intimate musical into its more intimate performance space, staging the show in Bliss Hall’s Spotlight Theater.

“This is the first time since I’ve been here that we’ve had a full-blown musical in the Spotlight,” Mazuroski said. “The intimacy of that space works really well with this show.”

If you go …

WHAT: Youngstown State University Theatre — “The Last Five Years”

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 16 to 18 and 2 p.m. Feb. 19

WHERE: Spotlight Theater, Bliss Hall

HOW MUCH: $16 for adults, $9 for non-YSU students, senior citizens, YSU alums and Penguin Club members and free for YSU students, faculty and staff. www.ysu.tix.com and 330-941-3105.