B'way Review: The Last Five Years

Adrienne Warren and Nick Jonas in
The Last Five Years.
Credit: Matthew Murphy

The Broadway premiere of The Last Five Years at the Hudson, Jason Robert Brown’s two-character tuner chronicling the romance, marriage and break-up of novelist Jamie and actress Cathy, is a mixed affair. (The intimate musical debuted Off-Broadway in 2002, was revived by Second Stage in 2013, and was made into a movie in 2014.) Boy-band heartthrob Nick Jonas gives an uneven performance, his co-star Adrienne Warren is on point throughout, and director Whitney White’s staging is mostly smooth but at times muddies the show’s central conceit. 

Adrienne Warren and Nick Jonas
in The Last Five Years.
Credit: Matthew Murphy

Brown’s clever structure underlines the central theme of missed connections. The show is mostly sung-through with each character expressing their emotions in alternating solos. Cathy starts by reading Jamie’s break-up letter and moves backwards in time while Jamie opens with his excitement at their first meeting and proceeds forwards over the half-decade of their union. In the original, the only time they appear onstage together is in the middle when they marry. For this production, the leads silently appear in each other’s scenes. Whether this was White’s or Brown’s decision, it confuses the dual timeline and lessens the impact of their one duet, the only moment in the show when their affections overlap. Otherwise, White’s direction flows freely from song to song with the aide of David Zinn’s suggestive, mobile sets and Stacey Derosier’s mood-focusing lighting.

The stars are both talented, capable performers, but Warren consistently conveys the varying emotions beneath her songs while Jonas doesn’t come up to full subtextual strength until half-way through the score. There’s no excuse for Jonas’ half-baked performance. He’s not just some lightweight pop teen idol. He’s been on Broadway since he was a child, appearing in Annie Get Your Gun, Beauty and the Beast and Les Miserables, as well as replacing Daniel Radcliffe in the 2011 How to Succeed revival. So he should know what he’s doing. 

B'way Update: The Last Five Years

Adrienne Warren and Nick Jonas
will star in The Last Five Years
on Broadway.

Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years will have its Broadway premiere in a new production starring Tony winner Adrienne Warren (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical) and Nick Jonas (The Jonas Brothers, How to Succeed) directed by Tony and Drama Desk nominee Whitney White (Jaja's African Hair Braiding, On Sugarland), set to open in spring 2025. The two-character musical premiered at the Northlight Theater in Skokie, Illinois. It opened Off-Broadway at the Minetta Lane Theater in 2002 with Norbert Leo Butz and Sherie Rene Scott, winning Drama Desk Awards for Brown's Music and Lyrics. A 2013 revival at Second Stage starred Adam Kantor and Betsy Wolfe. The 2014 film version directed by Richard LaGravenese was headlined by Jeremy Jordan and Anna Kendrick.

The plot follows the five-year relationship between author Jamie Wellerstein and actress Cathy Hiatt. The unique structure follows Jamie's story moving forward chronologically and Cathy's moving backwards. The two did not directly interact except for the wedding scene when the meet in the middle of each other's story. 

The musical is based on Brown's real-life marriage to Theresa O'Neill who sued her ex-husband for violating a non-disclosure agreement in their divorce proceeding. Brown countersued O'Neill for interfering in his creative process. In the settlement, Brown altered certain parts of the script to lessen Cathy's resemblance to O'Neill.

Broadway Update: Parade Revival with Ben Platt

Micaela Diamond and Ben Platt in
Parade which will transfer to Broadway
after its NYCC run.
Credit: Joan Marcus

Tony winner Ben Platt will return to Broadway in a revival of Parade, reprising his role from the New York City Center limited run of the musical based on the 1913 trial of Leo Frank, a Jewish factory manager who was accused of raping and murdering his employee 13-year-old Mary Phagan. Platt who won a Tony for Dear Evan Hansen will be joined by his City Center co-star Micaela Diamond (The Cher Show) who plays Frank's wife. Parade opened at Lincoln Center Theater's Vivian Beaumont Theater in 1998 and ran for 84 performances. It was nominated for nine Tonys and won for Alfred Uhry's book and Jason Robert Brown's score, and won six Drama Desk Awards including Outstanding Musical. Platt is also currently filming Richard Linklater's screen version of Merrily We Roll Along.

Parade, directed by Michael Arden (Once on This Island, Deaf West's revival of Spring Awakening) will begin previews on Feb. 21 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater and open on March 16 for a limited run until Aug. 6. 

B'way Update: 'Fun Home' Finds a Home

Obie winner Syndey Lucas and Michael Cerveris in Fun Home
Credit: Joan Marcus

There have been a lot of Broadway announcements lately. Love Letters and Side Show are getting revivals, Larry David will make his B'way debut as both actor and playwright in a comedy called Fish in the Dark, and Fun Home will move to the Circle In the Square one year after its acclaimed Off-B'way run at the Public. The oval space surrounded by audience presents interesting challenges for director Sam Gold. Fun Home will join other shows such as Urinetown, Next to Normal, Avenue Q, In the Heights, and Grey Gardens which played Off-Bway and on in separate seasons and were therefore eligible for Obies, Drama Desks and Outer Critics one year and Tonys the next. That leads to some weird differences in the awards, like Urinetown and Avenue Q getting a bunch of Tonys but no DDs. Fun Home did get the Lortel, Obie and NY Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical as well as the Outer Critics Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Musical, but lost the DD to A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. It's too early to tell what Fun Home's competition for the 2015 Tony will be. There will probably be a big push for Sting's The Last Ship and this year the Best Score category will definitely be on the air since the 16-time Grammy winner will be nominated. You'll recall that in 2013, Cyndi Lauper got to accept her Tony on TV for Kinky Boots, while Jason Robert Brown who nobody knows outside of drama clubs across the country, had to pick up his two Tonys for score and orchestrations of Bridges of Madison County during the commercials. Here's a rundown of the Broadway season on and Off-Bway so far: 

More Theatre News: Bridges Not Too Far for Broadway

Eastwood and Streep in The Bridges of Madison County

Of course there's more theater news today: the musical version of The Bridges of Madison County will definitely be moving to Broadway. (You know, the movie with Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood mooning over each other.) The musical which features a score by Jason Robert Brown (13, The Last  Five Years) and a book by Marsha Norman (Night, Mother, The Secret Garden) will begin previews at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater on Jan. 13, 2014 with an opening in mid-February. Tony winner Bartlett Sher (South Pacific) directs. The show is scheduled to play the Williamstown Theater Festival this summer Aug. 1-18.