A Brief History of THE LAST FIVE YEARS

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This time, the reader question was: The Last 5 Years makes its Broadway debut this spring… but everyone you know already has the show memorized. How did that happen? 

One of Broadway’s most celebrated living writers, Jason Robert Brown, penned this intimate autobiographical musical after Songs for a New World (1995) and Parade (1998) but before 13 (2008) and The Bridges of Madison County (2014)… among many other musicals and projects in his prolific career. The Last 5 Years premiered off-Broadway in 2002 following a pre-New York tryout in Chicago. 

The two hander was originated in New York by Sherie Rene Scott and Norbert Leo Butz. Their iconic performances as Cathy Hiatt and Jamie Wellerstein were memorialized on an original cast recording that has since gained legendary status. While the original production only ran for two months at the Minetta Lane Theatre, its impact following its premiere was huge. 

The Last 5 Years tells a love story that takes place over the course of five years; Jamie tells the story from his perspective forwards at the same time as Cathy tells it from her perspective backwards. The characters meet in the middle, at the juncture where they both occupy the same moment in time. Because of this conceit, most of the songs in The Last 5 Years are solos. We find out things from one character that are brought to fuller life when the other character shares their side, later in the show. The ingenious way of showing the two sides of a relationship is paralleled in the brilliance of the score. The profound storytelling and originality of the show has struck a chord in many.

Opening half a year after the 9/11 attacks, at a time when ticket buyers were still hesitant to return to the theatre, particularly downtown, The Last 5 Years struggled to find its initial audience. But this had little to do with the strength of the material. The original production of The Last 5 Years received Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, and Outer Critics Circle nominations, winning the Drama Desk for Outstanding Music and Lyrics. The show was directed by Daisy Prince, Brown’s close collaborator who had also staged his Songs for a New World off-Broadway in 1995 and who recently staged his The Connector off-Broadway in 2024.

At the time that The Last 5 Years premiered off-Broadway, 35-year-old Norbert Leo Butz had two Broadway credits to his name. He was a replacement cover for both Mark and Roger in RENT at the beginning of the show’s run on Broadway, later becoming Adam Pascal’s first replacement as Roger. He also gained attention for a scene-stealing turn in the short-lived musical Thou Shalt Not, which closed after only 85 performances just before The Last 5 Years went into rehearsal for its off-Broadway run. Following his time originating Jamie in The Last 5 Years, Butz would originate Fiyero in Wicked, win Tony Awards for leading performances in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Catch Me If You Can, and become an in-demand star of stage and screen.

Like Norbert Leo Butz, Sherie Rene Scott was also an early replacement in RENT. She became the second principal Maureen on Broadway, replacing Idina Menzel, in 1997. In turn, Menzel replaced Scott as Amneris in Aida later on. Scott was also 35 when The Last 5 Years premiered, and her other credits included originating Sally Simpson in The Who’s Tommy (1993) and a stint as Marty in the 1990s Grease revival. She blew audiences away with “Every Story is a Love Story” (as well as the rest of the score) each night at the Palace in Aida; the role of Amneris marked the only time she recorded a principal role on a cast album prior to The Last 5 Years. Following the show, she would record principal roles on countless cast albums, including Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Little Mermaid, Everyday Rapture, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and more.

Not only did The Last 5 Years propel Butz and Scott to new levels of their careers, it also put Sh-K-Boom Records on the map. The label, founded by Scott and Kurt Deutsch, aimed to provide a platform for theatre artists to release solo albums. Its first solo albums were those of Scott and Adam Pascal. The label also began recording cast albums, starting with The Last 5 Years. Sh-K-Boom’s second imprint, Ghostlight Records, became a major player in the world of cast recordings; together the two are responsible for hundreds of albums, including the original cast recordings of In The Heights and The Book of Mormon. The Last 5 Years might not have been recorded if not for Sh-K-Boom—since its initial run was only 2 months, most commercial record labels would not have been interested—and if it wasn’t recorded, it would never have had the future it did.

Following its off-Broadway bow (and Chicago run, where Cathy was played by Lauren Kennedy), The Last 5 Years became an immensely popular title in licensing all over the globe. With its two-person cast, modern sound, and compelling story, the show was a shoo-in for many regional theaters, international theaters, college theaters, and more. Pretty soon, the musical’s score had attained top popularity not just in college theatre departments but in high schools as well, with selections from The Last 5 Years being chosen for more showcases and competitions than selections from any other contemporary musical. The show has been seen in the Philippines, France, Denmark, Greece, Brazil, and beyond. A 2013 off-Broadway revival at Second Stage starred Adam Kantor and Betsy Wolfe. 

In 2015, The Last 5 Years film adaptation was released. Directed by Richard LaGravenese and starring Jeremy Jordan and Anna Kendrick, the movie version of the show includes an expanded cast of characters, without sacrificing the untouchable score being sung as is by the characters of Jaime and Cathy. With several small alterations, including a few extra pieces of dialogue, The Last 5 Years was adapted faithfully for the screen. The cinematic version of Jamie and Cathy’s story brings to life the settings of each scene in a way that adds another dimension to the musical. So many New York City locations are named in the score of The Last 5 Years that I’ve often joked about giving a Last 5 Years tour of NYC; the film basically does this for us, from the Central Park pavilion where Jamie and Cathy get married to their Upper West Side brownstone.

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