After watching the bittersweet love story of The Last Five Years unfold at Second Stage Theatre, we went on a little Cathy and Jamie YouTube binge. Even though the story is set in New York City, performers around the world are just as obsessed with Jason Robert Brown’s 2001 musical as we are! Check out our five favorite performances of The Last Five Years from England, Japan, Australia, Germany and Austria, then see it off-Broadway, where the revival directed by Brown is set to open on April 2!
Naomi Price, Australia: “Still Hurting”
In this Brisbane production of The Last Five Years, actress Naomi Price brings raw pain to the musical’s opening song, “Still Hurting,” and makes us wonder why that jerk Jamie broke up with her in the first place.
Koji Yamamoto, Japan: “A Miracle Would Happen”
Jamie’s got some serious moves in this Tokyo production of the show—check out Koji Yamamoto’s air guitar and hyper-speed robot dance at 0:06! How do you say “If f*cking Random House stops calling” in Japanese?
Alen Hodzovic, Germany: “If I Didn’t Believe In You”
OK, we’re wondering why Cathy’s wearing her robe in what appears to be an empty library, but Jamie’s heartfelt rendition of “If I Didn’t Believe in You” (especially 3:03 to the end) in this Berlin production gives us chills.
Lauren Samuels, England: “I Can Do Better Than That”
British reality star and West End vet Lauren Samuels is the perfect mix of goofy and adorable in her performance of “I Can Do Better Than That.” We swear we’d eat prosciutto for you, Lauren.
Rob Fowler, Austria: “Nobody Needs to Know”
You know what Jamie is missing? A sexy arm tattoo. Vienna actor Rob Fowler takes care of that in an emotional (and may we mention shirtless?) interpretation of the dark ballad “Nobody Needs to Know.”