The Broadway debut of Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years begins performances at the Hudson Theatre March 18 ahead of an April 6 opening night, and snippets of two songs have been released. Watch Adrienne Warren's rendition of "I Can Do Better Than That" and Nick Jonas' take on "Moving Too Fast" in the video below.
Director Whitney White will lead a creative team that also includes choreographers Jeff Kuperman and Rick Kuperman (The Outsiders), scenic designer David Zinn (Stereophonic), costume designer Dede Ayite (Jaja’s African Hair Braiding), lighting designer Stacey Derosier (The Counter), sound designer Cody Spencer (The Outsiders), wig and hair designer Mia Neal (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom). Cody Renard Richard will serve as production stage manager, and Baseline Theatrical’s Andy Jones and James Hickey will handle general management.
The production will also feature new orchestrations from Brown, and nine musicians, rather than the six included in previous productions. The music team will include conductor Paul Mutzabaugh on the piano-keyboard, concertmaster Fung Chern Hwei on violin, Maria Im on violin, Adda Kridler on violin and viola, Ken James Kubota on cello, Zachary Brown on cello, Hidayat Honari on guitar, Julia Adamy on bass, and Jamie Eblen on drums, percussion, and celeste, with music direction by Tom Murray and music contracting by Tomoko Akaboshi.
The Last Five Years tracks a five-year relationship between Cathy and Jamie from beginning to end via intertwining solo songs, with Jamie's story unfolding chronologically and Cathy's reverse chronologically.
The musical, which premiered at Skokie, Illinoise's Northlight Theatre before a 2002 Off-Broadway run at Minetta Lane Theatre starring Norbert Leo Butz and Sherie Rene Scott, has become a particular favorite among theatre fans. The upcoming Main Stem run will be the work's first, following an Off-Broadway revival in 2013 and a film adaptation in 2014.
Seaview, ATG Productions, and The Season are producing.
Tickets are available at TheLastFiveYearsBroadway.com.