The Last Five Years

Written and composed by Jason Robert Brown (Parade, Songs For A New World, 13), The Last Five Years is an intensely personal look at the relationship between a writer and an actress told from both points of view. The story explores a five-year relationship between Jamie Wellerstein, a rising novelist, and Cathy Hyatt, a struggling actress. The story, told in the exuberant and heart-rending songs of Jason Robert Brown, tells the story of the five years of a marriage, from intense love to a final, painful separation. A “must-see … and hear.”

Jamie and Cathy’s relationship has lasted five years. As the play begins, Cathy is at the end of the relationship (“Still Hurting”) and feeling bereft. Immediately, we see Jamie five years prior. He has just met Cathy and is soaring from the high of it (“Shiksa Goddess”). From there, we watch the inter-cutting scenes from Manhattan to a summer tent musical in Ohio and back. Their “times” correspond only once, signaled by a remarkable duet ("The Next Ten Minutes"), as Jamie moves forward in time while Cathy moves backward.