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: 12th Night, Last Five Years, Etc.

Peter Dinklage, Lupita Nyong'o, 
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and Sandra Oh
will star in Twelfth Night next summer.

Initial casting has been announced for the Public Theater's Summer 2025 production of Twelfth Night at the newly renovated Delacorte Theater in Central Park. (The theater is closed this summer as the upgrades are in progress.) The company will be headed by Emmy winner Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) as Malvolio, Tony winner Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family, Take Me Out) as Sir Andrew Agucheek, Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o (Twelve Years a Slave) as Viola and Golden Globe and SAG Award winner Sandra Oh (Killing Eve). 

"Twelfth Night is the epitome of joy," said director of the upcoming production and Public Theater Associate Artistic Director/Resident Director Saheem Ali. "It also happens to be the first production I ever saw at The Delacorte, as a college student taking the Chinatown bus from Boston. I'm delighted to be reuniting with my dear friend Lupita Nyong'o, joined by fellow Public Theater alums Peter Dinklage, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and Sandra Oh. Free Shakespeare in the Park is a gift to our city. I'm honored to be helming this production as we reopen The Delacorte after an extensive and essential revitalization."

This will be the seventh production of Twelfth Night presented by the Public in Central Park. Previous revivals were seen in 1969 (directed by founder Joseph Papp), 1986, 1989, 2002, 2009, and a musical adaptation for Public Works in 2018. 

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.