Guide to ‘The Last Five Years’ on Broadway, starring Nick Jonas and Adrienne Warren

The Grammy Award-nominated pop star and the Tony-winning theatre actress lead the first Broadway production of Jason Robert Brown's romantic drama musical.

Caroline CaoAugust 1, 2024, 04:00

Romance brings the good, the bad, and the mess. From the ambivalent-toward-commitment Company to the feel-good rom-com She Loves Me, Broadway is always filled with relationship drama in musical theatre. Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years sits among the famous repertoire of romantic dramas, and while it may seem tale-as-old-as-time on the surface, its experimental storytelling structure has drawn in an avid audience since its Off-Broadway premiere in 2002.

Making its Broadway premiere in 2025 with Nick Jonas and Adrienne Warren, and directed by Whitney White, The Last Five Years isn’t about a couple as much as it is about the respective individuals in a couple. As they undergo the highs and lows of love, the musical doesn’t tread a feel-good path, but it reflects on how relationships evolve from the first romantic spark to the despair as that spark fades.

Grab the tissues, and learn more about the fan-favorite show below before seeing it at the Hudson Theatre.

Get The Last Five Years tickets now.

What is The Last Five Years about?

Cathy Hiatt is a struggling actress in the theatre business. Jamie Wellerstein is a rising novelist. Their ambitions clash into conflict as their five-year relationship progresses.

The timeline toggles back and forth between their perspectives. Jamie’s story unfolds chronologically, while Cathy’s story plays backward in time. We know how the relationship ends right from the outset.

The couple traditionally do not share the stage together, but rather, each person sings in their own world. The timelines only intersect during one song mid-show.

Where is The Last Five Years playing?

Beginning March 18, 2025, The Last Five Years will play at the Hudson Theatre at 141 West 44th Street between Broadway and Sixth Avenue.

Recent shows at the venue include Once Upon A Mattress (through November 30), Merrily We Roll Along, and A Doll's House.

How long is The Last Five Years?

While a running time has yet to be announced for this production, The Last Five Years generally runs under 2 hours with no intermission.

What days is The Last Five Years playing?

The Last Five Years plays eight performances a week at the Hudson Theatre beginning March 18, 2025, with two performances on Wednesdays and Saturdays and no performances on Mondays. This schedule is subject to one-off changes. For the complete weekly performance schedule, please visit The Last Five Years page.

When did The Last Five Years premiere?

The Last Five Years premiered in May 2001 at the Northlight Theatre in Skokie, Illinois. The show then premiered off Broadway at the Minetta Theatre in March 2002.

Its first Broadway premiere will begin performances on March 18, 2025 before an official opening night on April 6.

Who wrote The Last Five Years?

Composer-lyricist-bookwriter Jason Robert Brown wrote The Last Five Years, inspired by the end of his first marriage. Brown’s New York breakthrough musical production was his song cycle Songs For A New World, and his other famous musicals include Parade, The Bridges of Madison County, and The Connector.

The Last Five Years characters

The Last Five Years is a two-hander musical.

Cathy Hiatt: A stage actress bouncing between auditions and roles and often swallowing her insecurities in her profession.
Jamie Wellerstein: A novelist who strikes success in his early 20s and has trouble staying faithful to Cathy.

Who is in the cast of The Last Five Years on Broadway?

The Broadway premiere of The Last Five Years will star Nick Jonas and Adrienne Warren. Warren won a Tony Award for playing the title role of Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, and she was nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance in Shuffle Along, or, the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed.

Nick Jonas’s early stage career included his role as Gavroche in Les Misérables, and he later played Marius in Les Misérables and J. Pierrepont Finch in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Most fans, however, recognize him as one third of the Grammy-nominated pop band Jonas Brothers and for his solo singing career.

The Last Five Years songs

Jason Robert Brown’s score plays with a range of contemporary rock, jazz, and pop. Traditionally, on stage, the actors do not interact on stage except during “The Next Ten Minutes.”

"Still Hurting"
"Shiksa Goddess"
"See I'm Smiling"
"Moving Too Fast"
"A Part of That"
"The Schmuel Song"
"A Summer in Ohio"
"The Next Ten Minutes"
"A Miracle Would Happen/When You Come Home to Me"
"Climbing Uphill/Audition Sequence"
"If I Didn't Believe in You"
"I Can Do Better Than That"
"Nobody Needs to Know"
"Goodbye Until Tomorrow/I Could Never Rescue You"

What awards has The Last Five Years won?

The Broadway-premiere production of The Last Five Years will be eligible for awards in 2025, but previous productions have been honored with various prizes.

2002 Off-Broadway premiere: The show won the 2002 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music and Lyrics. Other nominations included Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Actor, Outstanding Actress, Outstanding Orchestrations, and Outstanding Set Design.
2016 Off-West End production: It won the WhatsOnStage Award for Best Off-West End Production in 2017.
2014 movie adaptation: The film was nominated for the Chicago International Film Festival's Audience Choice Award and won the Traverse City Film Festival's Founders Prize Special Awards.

Major productions of The Last Five Years

The Last Five Years is a staple of small theatres. Read on for a timeline of the musical.

2001: Daisy Prince directs the Chicago premiere starring Norbert Leo Butz as Jamie and Lauren Kennedy as Cathy.
2002: Prince returns to direct the off-Broadway premiere at the Minetta Theatre. Butz reprises his role as Jamie, and Sherie Rene Scott replaces Lauren Kennedy.
2003: An international premiere takes place in Manila, Philippines, at the RCBC Plaza in Makati City.
April 2013: Jason Robert Brown directs Second Stage Theater's Off-Broadway revival with Adam Kantor and Betsy Wolfe.
June 2013: The Irish premiere lands at the Naughton Studio, Lyric Theatre, Belfast, starring Amy Lennox and Fra Fee.
September 2016: A one-night-only benefit concert stars Joshua Henry and Cynthia Erivo.
October 2016: Jason Robert Brown directs an Off-West End staging in London with Jonathan Bailey and Samantha Barks.
June 2019: A Syracuse, New York, production is directed by Jason Alexander. This version used two dancers who shadow the characters.
2020: Jonathan O'Boyle directs an Off-West End version starring Oli Higginson and Molly Lynch. This version is streaming on BroadwayHD.
2021: The experimental, immersive Out of Box Theatrics streams an on-site production in a New York City apartment. Jason Michael Webb directed the show and music.
2025: The Whitney White-directed Broadway premiere stars Nick Jonas and Adrienne Warren.

Onscreen adaptations of The Last Five Years

In 2014, Richard LaGravenese wrote and directed a film adaptation starring Anna Kendrick as Cathy and Jeremy Jordan as Jamie. It premiered as a Toronto International Film Festival selection. The film is currently streaming on Prime Video and YouTube.

Whereas the characters sing solos without directly interacting with each other in staged productions, the film has a more expansive scope. The couples — and other characters — interact directly in the same scene.

Betsy Wolfe and Sherie Rene Scott (an executive producer of the film), who have played Cathy on stage, have cameos. Jason Robert Brown also has a cameo as a piano player.

Celebrities who have performed in The Last Five Years

Nick Jonas and Adrienne Warren aren't the only titans who have taken up the roles of the central couple.

Nick Jonas: The Jonas Brothers star plays Jamie Wellerstein in The Last Five Years on Broadway in 2025.
Adrienne Warren: The Tina Tony Award winner plays Cathy Hiatt opposite Jonas in the Broadway production.
Norbert Leo Butz: Best known as the original Fiyero in Wicked, he played Jamie in the Chicago and Off-Broadway premieres.
Lauren Kennedy: She originated Cathy in the Chicago premiere and later released the album Songs of Jason Robert Brown.
Sherie Rene Scott: She received a Drama Desk Award nomination for her role as Cathy in the show's Off-Broadway premiere. Afterward, she was nominated for the Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, in which she shared the stage once more with Butz.
Jonathan Bailey: He led a 2016 London production of the show and later played a very different “Jamie” in the 2018 West End’s Company. Bailey is best known for Bridgerton and the upcoming two-part Wicked film.
Samantha Barks: She originated the role of Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman: The Musical on Broadway and played Eponine in the Les Misérables film adaptation. In The Last Five Years, she played Cathy opposite Bailey.
Joshua Henry: He was Jamie in a one-night 2016 benefit concert. His theatre roles include Rapunzel's Prince in Into the Woods, Aaron Burr in Hamilton, and Gaston in the televised Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration.
Cynthia Erivo: She played Cathy opposite Henry. She also played Celie in The Color Purple on Broadway and stars as Elphaba in the Wicked film.
Anna Kendrick: She plays Cathy in the 2014 Last Five Years film, but she's better known for starring in the Pitch Perfect films. A true Broadway baby, she was a young teen when she was nominated for a Best Featured Actress in a Musical Tony for the 1998 musical High Society.
Jeremy Jordan: He starred opposite Kendrick in the Last Five Years film. Fans recognize him from Newsies and Bonnie & Clyde, and Jordan is currently starring as Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby on Broadway.

Fun facts about The Last Five Years

Since the musical was born from a personal relationship, there are plenty of interesting facts about The Last Five Years's history.

Brown and Theresa O'Neill, his first wife, sued each other over the musical. As a settlement for both suits, Brown removed references to Cathy being Irish Catholic and replaced the song "I Could Be in Love With Someone Like You" with "Shiksa Goddess."
In Jason Robert Brown’s cameo in the 2014 movie, he’s has difficulty sight reading Cathy’s provided sheet music. It’s likely a self-deprecating reference to a popular theatre tip: Performers should avoid bringing Brown's songs to auditions because the music is complicated.
In the film, Jeremy Jordan’s real-life wife, Ashley Spencer, cameos as a receptionist that Jamie imagines in her underwear.

How to get The Last Five Years tickets

To experience the highs and lows between Cathy and Jamie means having a stomach for hindsight and heartbreak. That’s perhaps why Jason Robert Brown’s personal musical, now with two major stars in the spotlight, has reached many broken and mended hearts alike.