We're Smiling! Samantha Barks and Jonathan Bailey to Lead THE LAST FIVE YEARS, Helmed by Jason Robert Brown in London

We can't do better than tonight's big news from the West End! Jason Robert Brown will direct his two-hander musical THE LAST FIVE YEARS in London this fall, starring Samantha Barks and Jonathan Bailey as Cathy and Jamie. According to the Daily Mail, the production will run at the St. James Theatre, October 28 - November 26, 2016.

Before the casting process began, the Mail writes that Brown told the production team: "I'm not writing for beginners or amateurs, I'm writing for the highest level of performance. That incredible, high level of technique is not something you get just because you're famous; it's something you have to work very hard for."

Barks and Bailey will reunite after appearing together in the Disney Channel series GROOVE HIGH in 2012. Because of their history, Brown told the Mail, "You could sense that the two of them immediately had what we lazily call 'chemistry'."

Brown's musical THE LAST FIVE YEARS, which was recently adapted into a film starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan, made its off-Broadway debut in 2002 and was revived in New York City in 2013 with Adam Kantor and Betsy Wolfe.

The cult drama follows the five-year relationship between writer Jamie Wellerstein and actress Cathy Hiatt, with Cathy starting at the end of their marriage and Jamie starting at the beginning.

Last year, Barks took on the title role in AMÉLIE, A NEW MUSICAL at Berkeley Repertory Theatre; the show will be moving to Broadway this season starring HAMILTON's Phillipa Soo. The actress, who starred as 'Eponine' in the 2010 London production of LES MISERABLES, reprised her part for the recent movie adaptation. She has also appeared in the UK tours of OLIVER! and CABARET, and as 'Velma Kelly' in the 2013 production of CHICAGO at the Hollywood Bowl.

Bailey, known for his roles on ITV's BROADCHURCH and the BBC's LEONARDO, recently appeared in AMERICAN PSYCHO at The Almeida Theatre. Before that, he took the stage in OTHELLO at the Royal National Theatre, SOUTH DOWNS at the Harold Pinter Theatre, HOUSE OF SPECIAL PURPOSE at Chichester, GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING at Theatre Royal Haymarket, THE MOTHER SHIP at Birmingham Rep, and more. He also played 'Gavroche' in LES MISERABLES at London's Palace Theatre.

Composer, lyricist, conductor, arranger, orchestrator, director and performer Jason Robert Brown is best known for his dazzling scores to several of the most renowned musicals of his generation, including SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD, THE LAST FIVE YEARS, and PARADE, for which he won the 1999 Tony Award for Best Score. Among his other works are THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, HONEYMOON IN VEGAS and 13. He is currently working on a show with Marsha Norman and on the new King Kong musical.