In an odd casting choice that we are sure will lead to an initial boom in ticket sales, Nick Jonas has been tapped to take on the role of Jamie Wellerstein, a Jewish rising novelist, in the first-ever Broadway production of The Last Five Years, a musical written by Jason Robert Brown that first landed Off-Broadway over two decades ago, in 2002.
Previews will begin on March 18 at the Hudson Theatre and the show will officially open on April 6. General public tickets will go on sale this Friday, July 26 at 10am.
Jonas, who famously wore a purity ring with his brothers (and Jonas Brothers bandmates!) while growing up, will star opposite Adrienne Warren in the role of Cathy Hiatt, a struggling actress and one half of the couple whose love story is at the center of the show.
Inspired by Brown’s former marriage to Theresa O’Neill (she actually ended up suing Brown because of it!), The Last Five Years tells the story of Jamie and Cathy in a peculiar form: the former’s version is unveiled chronologically while the latter’s in reverse. Interestingly enough, in the original version of the production, the two characters only interact during a musical number in the middle of the show, when their timelines coincide.
The production has been mounted across cities and theaters throughout the years and was adapted into a movie starring Jeremy Jordan (a Jew) and Anna Kendtrick in 2014, but this is the first time that the story gets the Broadway treatment. Until now, critics have considered it “too intimate” for the big stage.
“I have always believed that when the time was right, The Last Five Years would make its way to Broadway,” Brown said in a press release. “To have Nick and Adrienne taking on these roles is a composer’s dream come true. […] It has taken twenty-five years, but the time is right.”
Although usual couples’ issues end up defining the musical’s central relationship, Jamie’s being Jewish is certainly part and parcel of the story line (“Shiksa Goddess” is one of the most memorable songs performed), a fact at odds with Jonas’ clear Catholicism.
Alas, this is Broadway, where everything sort of goes, so rest assured that we’ll be catching The Last Five Years despite the producers’ dubious casting choices.
