Actor Norbert Leo Butz brings to life the self-centered, infantile, yet utterly charming Jamie in Jason Robert Brown's new two-character musical, "The Last Five Years." Nonetheless, Butz admits it's difficult for him to put an emotional handle on his onstage alter ego.
"Jamie is such a combination of ambition and charm and emotional arrested development," the affable 34-year-old Butz notes during a phone interview. "Jamie is a likeable guy who does unlikeable things. He contradicts himself all the time. He's also the smartest character I've ever played."
"The Last Five Years," slated to open Off-Broadway at the Minetta Lane Theatre on March 3, traces the buildup and ultimate disintegration of a marriage between Jamie, a rising young Jewish novelist (Butz) and Cathy, an aspiring Irish-American actress who is going nowhere quickly (Sherie René Scott). Professional jealousy, philandering, and emotional dependence contribute to the relationship's demise.
What's most striking about the sung-through piece is its structure, with the story being told from each spouse's point of view. More curious, Cathy launches her story at the end of the romance and moves back in time; while Jamie begins his account at their first date and works his way forward to the final parting. The only point at which they meet in time—and sing together—is at their wedding.
"I think the structure may be more challenging for the audience than for the two of us who are in it," says the St. Louis-born Butz. "But I do find I have to constantly clarify my intent. Nothing can be ambivalent or carefree in this play. There's not a casual beat in the whole evening, in part because so much information about the characters and their relationship is withheld. And we have to fill that in.
"The big question is how do I connect seven songs to create a character who moves from being someone who has a naïve and idealistic view of love to someone who is much wiser," Butz continues. "Jamie comes to realize that adulthood is hard, change is hard. Staying in a relationship and remaining true to your own identity is not easy. At the end of the play, Jamie wonders if he is capable of loving someone. Is the problem who I am or where I am in my life? And what am I going to do about it?" Butz pauses. "It's murky water and I find myself thinking about Jamie 24 hours a day."
The classically trained Butz, who is perhaps best known for his recent star turn in Susan Stroman's "Thou Shalt Not," has a host of credits under his belt. Among these are "Rent" on Broadway, "Juno and the Paycock" at the Roundabout, and "Saved" at Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA). For his stint as the Emcee in the national tour of "Cabaret," he earned the Helen Hayes, Dora, Joseph Jefferson Awards, and an Ovation Award nomination.
Despite his impressive resume, especially for someone relatively young, Butz is refreshingly devoid of airs.
Asked what he most admires in a director, he doesn't miss a beat: "Someone to offer me a job. Generally, if a director wants me, he's a star in my eyes. I don't sit home and wonder [his voice grows mock-reverent and hushed], 'Who will I work with next?' You're only as good as your last job. So I suppose the most important thing a director can do is cast you well."
On sitcoms and movies: "I'd sell out in a minute. Theatre I take more seriously, so I work very hard at not getting typecast. But I know there are people who think typecasting has its pluses. I don't rule anything out."
Musicals Were Not in His Plans
The son of an insurance salesman, Butz grew up in a community where "no one even fantasized about a career in theatre." Nevertheless, Butz always wanted to be an actor, he recalls.
At an early age, he displayed a talent for singing and his parents hired a vocal coach and piano teacher to train him, although they never imagined, Butz reiterates, that he'd use his talents on the stage.
"And, frankly, when I started Webster College [in St. Louis], where I majored in acting, I had no intention of singing in a musical, either. I thought of myself as a serious actor," he chortles. "I still consider myself an actor, first and foremost, but it wasn't until I got out of college and became less pretentious that I realized the musical was a great American art form."
Butz has no regrets about his musical theatre experience, acknowledging that with "The Last Five Years" he has to address the music and lyrics from a technical standpoint in a way that he never had to before.
"The demands of the score, which is influenced by pop and rock 'n' roll, are formidable," he says. "Jason is fond of high tenor belting and every song represents a full range. And the lyrics are also very layered and complex."
Interestingly, Butz dropped out of the theatre program at Webster and majored in political science. He ultimately returned to the drama department, but for a while felt "that acting school was not for me. There was far too much rolling around on the floor and making funny noises for my taste. I just wanted to perform." A desire that was driven home when Butz went to London and saw the many great British stars performing in the West End.
Determined to do the classics, but still not joyous at the prospect of more acting school, Butz reluctantly auditioned for and was accepted at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, where he graduated with an M.F.A. in 1994. It turned out to be a valuable experience, he admits.
"And after I graduated, I was invited into the Alabama Shakespeare Company, a full rotating repertory in a LORT theatre, and I stayed for two years. I had wonderful parts in Shakespeare, Molière, and Shaw."
Performing in regional theatres followed before Butz, at the age of 28 and recently married, decided New York was the next logical step. And so far, he says, his luck has held out; he has been steadily employed as an actor since graduate school.
"If I were not acting," he observes, "I might be a teacher, but I would not teach acting. It would probably be theatre history or literature."
To this day, Butz considers reading one of his favorite activities; and it's just as well, since he's is now doing a lot of reading as part of his preparation for Jamie in "The Last Five Years."
"After all, Jamie is a novelist," Butz remarks, "and I felt it would help me understand the character if I knew the kind of books he wrote. My first thought was that his novels were like David Eggers or Michael Chambon. But Jason said Philip Roth and Nathan Englander were far closer to it. Jason brought me a copy of 'Goodbye, Columbus,' and I loved it. So I'm now reading a lot of contemporary Jewish fiction. It places Jamie in a context."
Down the road, Butz says there are many roles he'd want to tackle, such as Hal in "Henry IV," and either of the haunted Tyrone brothers, Jamie or Edmund, in "Long Day's Journey into Night." "I'd like to play it alongside my own brother, Jim, who is also an actor."
At the moment, however, Butz's thoughts are focused on "The Last Five Years," and his hope that audiences leave the theatre "with tremendous empathy for both characters and therefore themselves, with their successes and failures in matters of the heart.
"I would want them to feel that Jamie and Cathy were really made for each other, belong together, but because of who they are—their refusal to change and make sacrifices—they break up. They shouldn't see the split as inevitable, but tragic."