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.

B'way Update: Final Sondheim; Merrily Finds Theater; No More Room

Stephen Sondheim will have
 two productions on the boards
in 2023-24

There are ups and down on and Off-Broadway this week. The last Stephen Sondheim show is finally announcing dates and a theater as is the Broadway transfer of New York Theater Workshop's revival of Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along. And one upcoming Broadway show has been forced to shut down before it even began performances. 

Here We Are, the last Stephen Sondheim musical will premiere at the Shed's Griffin Theater in September 2023. Casting and specifics dates will be announced at a later date. Based on two Luis Bunuel films, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and The Exterminating Angel, Here We Are features a book by David Ives (All in the Timing, Venus in Fur) and direction by Joe Mantello who won a Tony for his staging of Sondheim's Assassins. Not long before his death in 2021, Sondheim appeared on Stephen Colbert's late-night talk show and confirmed that the show, under the title of Square One, had a workshop with Nathan Lane and Bernadette Peters and would be coming to Broadway the following season. 

Another Sondheim show will also be coming to Broadway in 2023-24. The New York Theater Workshop revival of Merrily We Roll Along has been announced as beginning previews at the Hudson Theater on Sept. 19. (Opening to be announced.) Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez, Krystal Joy Brown, Katie Rose Clark, and Reg Rogers will repeat their performances from the NYTW production which was directed by Maria Friedman. Her staging was first seen at London's Menier Chocolate Factory and later transfered to the West End where it won the Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival. This will be the first Broadway revival of Merrily which originally closed after only 16 performances and ended the collaboration between Sondheim and Harold Prince. There have been Off-Broadway productions in 1994 (York Theater) and 2019 (Fiasco Theater at Roundabout's Laura Pels stage) as well as acclaimed concert versions. 

Lindsay Mendez, Jonathan Groff and
Daniel Radcliffe in
Merrily We Roll Along
Credit: Joan Marcus

B'way Update: Making 'Room' and Changes to the OCC Awards

Adrienne Warren

The 2023 Broadway spring season is getting more crowded. The latest entry is Room, Emma Donoghue's stage adaptation of her best-selling novel. She also adapted the work for the 2015 film version for which Brie Larsen won a Best Actress Oscar. Tony winner Adrienne Warren (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical) will star as the young woman who is held captive with her son in a shed by a sexual predator. The play which features songs by Scottish songwriters Kathryn Joseph and Cora Bissett and direction by Ms. Bissett, will begin preview performances at the James Earl Jones Theater on April 3, prior to an April 17 opening. Room has had previous productions in London (both in England and Canada), Dublin, Glasgow, and Toronto. Additional cast members will be announced.

Whether the show will be considered a play with music or a musical has not yet been determined, since there has been reworking after the last production when it was classified as a play with music.

“I am truly honored for the opportunity to return to Broadway in a project unlike anything I’ve done before,” Adrienne Warren commented. “There were many reasons I wanted to join this team in telling this story, but most importantly, I wanted to share this beautifully human bond between a mother and her son. This is for all the little Jack’s out there determined to hold on to their sense of joy and wonder and all the Ma’s out there doing their absolute best to live, love, and protect through it all.” 

Brie Larsen and Jacob Tremblay
in the film version of Room (2015)