The Auburn Players Community Theatre will be presenting The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown on July 17th, 18th, and 19th. The production will star Laura Kelly as Cathy and Jeff Kringer as Jamie.
Jason Robert Brown is best known as a composer and lyricist. His most recognized musicals are Songs For a New World, Parade, The Bridges of Madison County, and The Last Five Years. Brown won the Tony Award for Best Music for Parade, and the awards for Best Score and Orchestration for The Bridges of Madison County.
The Last Five Years premiered Off-Broadway in 2002 at the Minetta Lane Theatre, and was most recently turned into a movie starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan in 2015.
Alec Harvey of Al.com chatted with Jason Robert Brown back in February about the movie, the show, and his future as a broadway composer.
Q. First of all, can we talk about the movie? How involved were you, and what do you think about it?
A. I’m thrilled about the movie. It’s very exciting. The fact that it exists is very exciting but also the fact that it’s good adds to that. … I was very much involved with it … It’s a very strange little movie and very unexpected. I had heard from a couple of people who said they wanted to do it, and I always said no, because their ideas didn’t sound very strong. I met with Rich and his ideas were exactly right for the characters and for the situation.
Q. Is it hard to believe the show is 15 years old?
A. I’ve been living with this for a long time. Right before the movie I had been directing the show so I was deep in it. It’s covered a large swath of my life.
Q. How autobiographical is it?
A. I like to say it’s inspired by a lot of events in my life. It’s not autobiographical because I was never a novelist and there’s a lot of stuff that didn’t happen to me. But I would be coy if I didn’t say it was inspired by some real events in my life and my first marriage. … I delved into something that would be very personal and very emotional. That still is what I want to write, where I’m the only person who is going to know how to say it like this because it’s coming from me.
Q. What have the last five years been like for you, with “13,” “Bridges of Madison County,” “The Last Five Years” and “Honeymoon in Vegas”?
A. It’s been pretty crazy. Luckily I have an extraordinary wife (composer Georgia Stitt), and I have an amazing family that keeps it all in check. I just try to ride through it. Anytime I can make music and theater I like it.
Q. Any clues as to what the next five years will bring?
A. I’m not ready to retire just yet. There are still shows to be written.
The Last Five Years will be presented Friday July 17th at 8PM, Saturday July 18th at 8 PM, and Sunday July 19th at 2PM at the Irene Bisgrove Theatre at Cayuga Community College. Tickets are $16 General Admission and $14 for Students/Seniors. Tickets may be purchased at the door or by clicking here. For group rates please call 315-702-7832
The Q&A Section of this article was reprinted with permission from al.com. The interviewer of the Q&A is Alec Harvey, and the original article may be read by clicking here.
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