New Wolsey Theatre Sets Cast of THE LAST FIVE YEARS

As part of their 15th Birthday celebrations, the New Wolsey Theatre have today announced their cast of their upcoming production of The Last Five Years, directed by Artistic Director Peter Rowe, running from Thursday 25 February to Friday 11 March.

Recently a major motion picture, The Last Five Years is an award winning musical from writer and composer Jason Robert Brown. Starting and ending with the beginning of a passionate love affair, the unique style of storytelling and infectious score makes this one of America's best modern musicals.

Actress Cathy's story starts with the end of their relationship following their tale backwards to when she first fell in love with her young talented lover. Novelist Jamie's story begins with their first passionate encounter and heads forward towards heartache.

The Last Five Years stars Chris Cowley and Katie Birtill, who took the title role in Sweet Charity at the New Wolsey Theatre in autumn 2015. The production will feature a live band led by musical director Caroline Humphris, creating Cathy and Jamie's world as it crumbles and reforms around them.

Katie Birtill, who plays Catherine Hiatt, trained at the Royal Academy of Music on their musical theatre course. Her theatre credits include: Sue in Dreamboats & Petticoats: The Christmas Party (Broadway Theatre); Charity in SWEET CHARITY (The New Wolsey Theatre); Monique in The Boy Who Fell Into A Book written and directed by Alan Ayckbourn (The Stephen Joseph Theatre); Diva and u/s Shirley and Marion in Priscilla Queen Of The Desert (UK Tour), and Sue in Dreamboats And Petticoats (UK Tour). Her vocal credits include: featured vocalist for Ramin Karimloo's Road To Find Out tour; Soloist for Cole Porter Classics at The Royal Festival Hall; backing vocals for Russell Watson La Voce Tour and other vocals with Capital Voices. Katie is also a singer/songwriter and will be releasing the EP Fragments of her own material soon.

Chris Cowley, who will play Jamie Wellerstein, graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2014. After graduating he played the lead role of Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever at The English Theatre Frankfurt and recently covered Fiyero in Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre in London.

As part of their mission to create theatre that is as accessible as possible to all, the New Wolsey Theatre will make every performance of The Last Five Years audio described for visually impaired audiences using integrated recorded audio description that audiences can experience through a headset. Audio Described performances give live commentary about the action happening on the stage and is a great way for anyone who finds it difficult to see the details of a performance to enjoy coming to the theatre. With introductory notes to listen to at the start of each performance, the cast will be recording the audio description as their characters. The project will be overseen by Jamie Beddard, an Agent For Change for the New Wolsey Theatre.

Tickets are on sale now and can be booked through the Tickets Sales Team by calling 01473 295900 or by booking online at www.wolseytheatre.co.uk

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