Jason Robert Brown to Pen New Orchestrations for Broadway Premiere of The Last Five Years

Tony-winning composer Jason Robert Brown will pen brand-new orchestrations for the upcoming Broadway premiere of The Last Five Years, starring Nick Jonas and Adrienne Warren. Directed by Whitney White, the production will begin its limited 14-week engagement at the Hudson Theatre on March 18, opening April 6. 

On the new orchestrations, Brown said they “will honor the intimacy and emotion of the score while also bringing a soaring new energy and power to match the greater panorama of a Broadway stage.”

The 9-person orchestra will be led by conductor Paul Mutzabaugh (also on the piano/keyboard) and feature Fung Chern Hwei (violin/concertmaster), Maria Im (violin), Adda Kridler (violin/viola), Ken James Kubota (cello), Zachary Brown (cello), Hidayat Honari (guitar), Julia Adamy (bass) and Jamie Eblen (drums/percussion/celeste). The production will have music direction by Tom Murray and music contracting by Tomoko Akaboshi. 

The show's creative team also includes choreography by Tony Award nominees Jeff Kuperman & Rick Kuperman, scenic design by Tony Award winner David Zinn, costume design by Tony Award winner Dede Ayite, lighting design by Stacey Derosier, sound design by Tony Award winner Cody Spencer and wig and hair design by Academy Award winner Mia Neal.

The Last Five Years follows two New Yorkers, rising author Jamie (Jonas) and aspiring actress Cathy (Warren), as they fall in and out of love over the course of five years. Jamie's story is told in chronological order, while Cathy's is told in reverse chronological order, beginning at the end of the couple's marriage. Their timelines only intersect once throughout the show. 

The musical premiered at Chicago's Northlight Theatre in 2001 and was produced off-Broadway in 2002, starring Norbert Leo Butz and Sherie Rene Scott, who later recorded a cast album. The production won the 2002 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music and Lyrics. Second Stage Theater revived the musical off-Broadway in 2013 with Adam Kantor and Betsy Wolfe, and an off-West End production followed in 2016 starring Jonathan Bailey and Samantha Barks. A film adaptation, starring Jeremy Jordan and Anna Kendrick, was released in 2015.