BWW Flashback: Second Stage's THE LAST FIVE YEARS Ends Extended Run Today; Ghostlight Set for New Recording, Film
By: BWW Special Coverage May. 18, 2013
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In May, it was announced that Ghostlight Records will preserve the hit Second Stage Theatre production of The Last Five Years, created and directed by Jason Robert Brown. Second Stage Theatre has extended this production starring Adam Kantor and Betsy Wolfe three times. The Last Five Years is performed at Second Stage's Tony Kiser Theatre (305 West 43rd street) through today, May 18, 2013. Below, BroadwayWorld brings you a flashback of the musical's run off-Broadway!
THE LAST FIVE YEARS features scenic design by Derek McLane, costume design by Emily Rebholz, lighting design by Jeff Croiter, and sound design by Jon Weston. The musical director is Thomas Murray.
Jason Robert Brown's contemporary musical The Last Five Years tells the emotionally powerful story of two twenty-something New Yorkers who dive head first into a marriage fueled by the optimism that comes with finding "the one." But in a city where professional and personal passions collide and only the strongest relationships survive, navigating the waters of love and matrimony can sometimes prove too much. Funny, honest and intimate, with an exuberantly romantic score, The Last Five Years takes a bold look at one young couple's hope that love endures the test of time.
Second Stage Theatre's highly anticipated revival of THE LAST FIVE YEARS began preview performances on March 7 at the Tony Kiser Theatre. The beloved two-character musical, which has received more than 500 regional productions and 3,000 performances around the world, returned to New York City after 11 years in an all-new staging directed by Jason Robert Brown. Get a glimpse of Kantor and Wolfe onstage in the photos below, plus watch video highlights from the show!
THE LAST FIVE YEARS officially opened on April 2, 2013. BroadwayWorld was there to chat with Kantor, Wolfe and Brown, and you can check out all of the excitement below!
This revival of THE LAST FIVE YEARS has broken box office records for the off-Broadway institution and ranks among the longest-running productions in the Second Stage's 34 year history.
Ghostlight's new recording of The Last Five Years will be produced by Jason Robert Brown with Kurt Deutsch and Stacey Mindich serving as executive producers. The 2002 original cast recording of The Last Five Years - the label's first cast album - remains one of their best-selling titles.
Earlier this year, Betsy Wolfe and Adam Kantor took time to sit down and talk about recording for the album. Below, watch Kantor perform "Shiksa Goddess," with Wolfe joining him in a portion of "Goodbye Until Tomorrow/I Could Never Rescue You" and composer Jason Robert Brown accompanying them on the piano.
Ghostlight Records is also producing a feature film based on the show directed by Richard LaGravenese and starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan. In addition, the label has preserved both the Broadway and London cast recordings oF Brown's 13 - The Musical, as well as his solo album Wearing Someone Else's Clothes.
On the heels of directing this production of The Last Five Years, Jason Robert Brown is currently working on two new musicals. Honeymoon in Vegas, with a book by Andrew Bergman, will premiere at the Paper Mill Playhouse this fall, and a musical adaptation of The Bridges of Madison County, which he wrote with Marsha Norman, will have its world premiere this summer at the Williamstown Theatre Festival under the direction of Bartlett Sher.
Jason Robert Brown and The Last Five Years Band are pictured below...
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