The bittersweet story of two young artists, from the first date to the last goodbye, is told in the musical “The Last Five Years” by the three-Tony-winning American composer Jason Robert Brown. For the first time ever, the musical will be in Greece on May 5, 6, 7, 11, 12 and 13.
It is one of the most popular Off-Broadway musicals that has received excellent international reviews.
The central characters are two 30-year-old New Yorkers who find and lose love over a period of five years. Cathy, a young, aspiring actress, and Jamie, an aspiring writer, meet, fall in love, marry and break up.
The unique narrative scheme set up by composer and playwright Jason Robert Brown begins with Cathy narrating the above journey from end to beginning, while Jamie follows a straight linear narrative, from beginning to end.
Through a series of beautiful songs, the audience follows the course of this relationship, in an environment where the past and the present are intertwined in a web of memories and actions, with the couple meeting in the same space and time only at the moment of their wedding, which takes place in the middle of the show.
The musical premiered at Chicago’s Northlight Theater in 2001 to great success, and the following year was just as successfully transferred to the Off-Broadway alternative venue to rave reviews.
It has since been translated into several languages and performed in many countries around the world: Canada, Australia, Japan, Germany, Holland, Italy, France and Great Britain.
A testament to the play’s longevity, based largely on its popularity in US regional theatres, is its Off-Broadway revival at Second Stage Theater in 2013, directed by Jason Robert Brown himself. In 2014, its film adaptation was also released, starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan.
The award-winning musical is presented at its Alternative Stage under the musical direction of the experienced Michalis Papapetrou, translated and directed by an expert in the genre, the versatile comedian and librettist Dimitris Dimopoulos.
The lead roles are played by Vasia Zacharopoulou and Paris Paraskevadis.
The directorial approach of Dimitris Dimopoulos guarantees an unusual musical theatre experience, outside the stereotypical confines of American musical theatre.
He notes: “Every presentation of The Last Five Years relies on the skills and chemistry of its two leads. My aim and desire as a director was to create in the rehearsal the space where Vasia and Paris will create her Cathy and his Jamie.”
“Ready now, we step on stage and find ourselves in the set designed by David Negrin (who also designs the costumes) and lit by Christos Giogas, a stage space where the memories of the past and the actions of the present coexist and unfold simultaneously, as the last five years of the couple’s life together are experienced as a memory for Cathy, but unfold as a present experience for Jamie.
“This special creation by Jason Robert Brown creates the theatrical condition of the couple meeting in space and time only in their wedding scene.”
Buy tickets HERE.
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