Brown & Kennedy to Perform LAST FIVE YEARS Concert

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 2/21/08 at 9:04pm

"Tony Award-winning composer Jason Robert Brown and Broadway singer-actress Lauren Kennedy will perform a one-night-only concert of Brown's The Last Five Years in March.

Part of the Broadway at Birdland series, the acclaimed musical will play the jazz venue March 17. The 7 PM concert will feature the original Off-Broadway orchestra.

The Last Five Years, according to press notes, is "an intensely personal look at the relationship between a writer and an actress told from both points of view." Kennedy played Cathy in the world premiere of Five Years in Chicago in 2001. The Off-Broadway production, which co-starred Norbert Leo Butz and Sherie Rene Scott, won a Drama Desk Award for Best Music and Best Lyrics..."

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/115277.html

[broadwayfan7]

Posted: 2/21/08 at 9:37pm

Sounds like it will be a great event!

[popular_elphie]

Posted: 2/21/08 at 11:18pm

UGH I JUST MADE VACATION RESERVATIONS THAT I CAN'T CANCEL FOR MARCH 14-18TH.

I would kill to see this.

[Dad'sOldRecords]

Posted: 3/18/08 at 2:26am

I just came back from the concert tonight and feel the need to rave about the performance. This was by far one of the most powerful things I have seen on stage and both Brown and Kennedy were breathtaking. They did the entire show with the bits of dialogue in between. In fact, one of the most stunning moments of the night was probably when Brown read the excerpt from Jamie's novel.

I've seen community theatre productions of "The Last Five Years" (pretty much all the ones I've seen being really mediocre), and I loved the fact that the show was so touching in its simplicity in this kind of concert setting. The venue was intimate (the Birdland is one of my new favorite spots in the city) and the singing was flawless... well, with the exception of the very endearing flub at the beginning of "The Schmuel Song." In the productions I've seen, there have always been so many set devices to convey time or play up the gimmick that Jamie and Kathy are moving in opposite directions on a time line. What I loved about tonight was that it really showed the true heart of the show: Brown's gorgeous music and the heartbreaking lyrics. In fact, I think Brown playing the piano only enhanced Jamie's character, at times producing an almost Doyle-esque effect. In any case, I left tonight utterly emotionally devastated... but I've never enjoyed the journey so much as tonight. If anyone's seeing it tomorrow night (or I guess considering the time, tonight) you will not be disappointed.

[broadwayfan7]

Posted: 3/18/08 at 10:40am

Thanks for your review! I'm glad you had fun!

[BroadwayBound062]

Posted: 3/18/08 at 10:54am

I am dying to see this! I think this is by far Brown's best score and most moving piece IMO, but I love all of his work