Jason Robert Brown’s Drama Desk Award-winning musical, The Last Five Years, will now be opening at the larger Garrick Theatre for an extended limited season, previewing from 17 September, with an opening night on Thursday 23 September and now running until 17 October 2021.
Directed by Jonathan O’Boyle, Molly Lynch and Oli Higginson will reprise their roles as Cathy and Jamie, following a critically acclaimed run at Southwark Playhouse last year and a highly successful worldwide stream with stream.theatre. This will be the first time the musical will have had a significant run of length in the West End.
The production at Southwark Playhouse was nominated for eight Offie Awards and won two for Best Director and Best Musical Production. Oli Higginson was nominated for a Stage Debut Award for his performance as Jamie.
The Last Five Years is an emotionally powerful and intimate story about two New Yorkers who fall in and out of love over the course of five years. The musical’s unconventional structure unfolds as Cathy, a struggling actor, tells her story in reverse, from the end of their turbulent relationship, whilst Jamie, a literary prodigy, tells his story chronologically from the spark of their initial meeting. In the musical, the two characters meet only once, at their wedding, which falls in the middle of the show.
Jonathan O’Boyle’s new actor-musician production has the actors on stage at all times and playing the piano to add a new narrative dimension to the story, accompanied by a four-piece band.
Brown’s cult classic musical was first seen in 2001 and ran off-Broadway in 2002. It was turned into a film in 2014 starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan.
The creative team, led by director Jonathan O’Boyle, includes choreographer Sam Spencer-Lane, set and costume designer Lee Newby, lighting designer Jamie Platt and sound designer Adam Fisher. Musical director is Leo Munby. Casting is by Jane Deitch.
