‘THE LAST FIVE YEARS’: Adrienne Warren & Nick Jonas. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

THE LAST FIVE YEARS
Book, music & lyrics by Jason Robert Brown
Directed by Whitney White
Through June 22, 2025
Hudson Theatre
141 W 44th St
https://thelastfiveyearsbroadway.com/

By Scott Harrah

Jason Robert Brown’s musical The Last Five Years originated in Chicago in 2001 and was first produced Off Broadway in New York in 2002, starring Norbert Leo Butz and Sherie Renee Scott. It was adapted into a 2014 film starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan. Now, the one act has arrived on Broadway with Tony Award winner Adrienne Warren and former teen pop star and Broadway veteran Nick Jonas. Some may not know it, but Nick Jonas has been appearing in Broadway shows since he was a child, long before he hit it big with his sibling pop group The Jonas Brothers. He even did a fine job replacing Daniel Radcliffe in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying in 2012.

Unorthodox narrative

This musical has gained a devoted cult following for its unorthodox narrative. The Last Five Years chronicles the five-year marriage of aspiring actress Cathy (Ms. Warren) and up-and-coming novelist Jamie (Mr. Jonas).  Cathy’s story is told backwards, from the end of her relationship with Jamie to the beginning. Jamie’s story is told the conventional way, from beginning to end.

The two characters’ tales finally merge but just once, at their wedding, and this happens halfway through the show. The musical is almost like an operetta since there’s little spoken dialogue. However, the overall tone is serious and ultimately gloomy. The show isn’t exactly an operetta nor is it a traditional musical. Nothing about the production fits any conventional category, so perhaps that is why The Last Five Years has an ardent fanbase.

‘Nice Jewish boy’ novelist Jamie

Mr. Jonas’s Jamie is a stereotypical “nice Jewish boy” from New York. He’s ambitious and tired of the women he meets in his social circle. When he meets Cathy, she’s unlike anyone he has ever met. With effervescent songs such as “Shiksa Goddess,” “Moving Too Fast” and “A Miracle Would Happen,” Mr. Jonas is in fine voice. As he finds success as a novelist, Cathy struggles.

Aspiring actress Cathy

Theatergoers already know Adrienne Warren has a powerful, angelic voice. She originated the role of Tina Turner in Tina: The Tina Turner Musical both on London’s West End and on Broadway, earning her an Olivier and Evening Standard Theatre Award nomination and a Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award. From the moment the show opens with Cathy belting out “Still Hurting,” a song about the painful ending of her marriage to Jamie, Ms. Warren starts out on a proverbial high note. Her vocals are consistently lush and melodic from beginning to end.  She is top notch when singing such songs as “I Can Do Better Than That” and “Goodbye Until Tomorrow” with her mellifluous voice.

Show’s edgy appeal

The fact that the narrative follows two opposing timelines (Cathy’s in reverse and Jamie’s chronologically) makes the musical edgy, and one can see why it has developed a dedicated group of enthusiasts the past 24 years

Both Mr. Jonas and Ms. Warren have amazing chemistry and stage presence. Fans of either star won’t be disappointed seeing them both shine in the 90-minute one act. Whitney White directs both actors well and they are both continuously fluid and have great timing.

Despite the two amazing performances and the superb vocals, this chronicle of a love and marriage falling apart is not exactly upbeat material. In addition, the awkward and wonky book is exactly why The Last Five Years may not please mass audiences. This cult favorite will certainly thrill those who are already fans of the show, but the confusing nature of the story could make winning over new aficionados difficult indeed.

Published April 16, 2025
Reviewed at press performance on April 9, 2025

‘THE LAST FIVE YEARS’: Adrienne Warren. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

‘THE LAST FIVE YEARS’: Nick Jonas. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

‘THE LAST FIVE YEARS’: Nick Jonas & Adrienne Warren. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

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NEW YORK—Due to a shortfall in capitalization and following the withdrawal of a Lead Producer, the Broadway production of ROOM, which was scheduled to begin performances on April 3, 2023 at the James Earl Jones Theatre, has been postponed indefinitely. The current production, which was in rehearsal, has shut down as of Thursday, March 16.“In the midst of our rehearsals we were informed by one of our Lead Producers that due to personal reasons, they did not intend to fulfill their obligations to the production. Since being notified, the rest of the producing team has exhausted all possible avenues to keep the show on track, but the narrow timeline and economic shortfall created by this series of events has proven to be insurmountable,” said producer Hunter Arnold. “We are incredibly disappointed not to be able to open this remarkable production at this time and are especially heartbroken for our incredibly talented cast and creative team who were hard at work in the rehearsal room.”

Tony Award winner Adrienne Warren. Photo: Chad Meyer.

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‘TINA: THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL’: Adrienne Warren (center) & cast. Photo: Manuel Harlan

TINA: THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL
Book by Katori Hall with Frank Ketelaar & Kees Prins
Directed by Phyllida Lloyd
Choreographed by Anthony Van Laast
Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
205 West 46th Street
(877-250-2929), www.tinaonbroadway.com

By David NouNou

Tina Turner is a force of nature, a hurricane. There are very few artists where you just mention their first name and you see their entire portfolio appearing in your mind. Tina is among those superstars: Aretha, Barbra, Cher, Diana, just to name a few; no need to say their last name as it would be redundant and stating the obvious.

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical is more than a jukebox musical about an artist and her song portfolio inserted into it to recapture nostalgia. Tina actually has a book that is logical and makes sense of the artist’s life. Of course there will be portions or parts that would be missing as, that is the nature of a musical; you have to stay on course to hold the audience’s attention.

Born Anna Mae Bullock in Nutbush, Tennessee, her hometown, singing in her father’s ministry, having an abusive father, deserted by her mother, living with her grandmother, moving to St. Louis at 16 and reconnecting with her mother, marrying Ike Turner and their tumultuous and abusive relationship, attempting suicide, from stardom to the depths of poverty and depression, going out on her own and rebuilding her career in the record industry and sold-out concerts around the world, as well as her faith in Buddhism which has been her salvation. It is all here.

In addition, there are also her songs that are sung intact and not just snippets: “River Deep, Mountain High,” “Proud Mary,” “Nutbush,” “Let’s Stay Together,” “Private Dancer,” “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” “We Don’t Need Another Hero,” and many more. What is unique here is that the songs come in sequence and are not randomly inserted for the sake of “keeping the musical moving” as is the case with most jukebox musicals.

I have to make a confession here. In June 2018, shortly after its opening, I saw Tina in London, and at that performance Adrienne Warren was not performing. Due to the demanding and unrelenting role, it is impossible to play eight performances a week without collapsing. Knowing Ms. Warren’s capabilities as a performer from the New York stage, I felt I was cheated not getting to see her on the West End.  As I stated earlier Tina, the singer, is bigger than life, so the performer that plays her has to capture that essence of Tina’s magnetism. It is not enough to just sing the songs well; she has to inhabit Tina.

There are very few times on the stage when an actress can overwhelm as the original artist she is portraying. Recently we had Cher and Donna Summer portrayed to less-than-diminishing returns by musicals with awkward books. Adrienne Warren has shattered the theatrical barrier and created a legendary moment in theatrical history. Over the years I have seen legends portraying Dolly Levi, Mame and Evita, but not since Barbra Streisand portraying Fanny Brice have I been as spellbound as I was witnessing Ms. Warren as Tina Turner. Ms. Warren should have her name in lights on the marquee (as they used to in the olden days). Although Ms. Warren lacks Tina’s size, she overcomes this obstacle with a fully rounded performances that will live on for the ages. Not to sound cheesy, but Hurricane Adrienne has made landfall at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre and may her stay be long.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published November 15, 2019
Reviewed at November 14, 2019 press performance.

‘TINA: THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL’: Adrienne Warren & Steven Booth. Photo: Manuel Harlan

‘TINA: THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL’ : Adrienne Warren & Daniel J. Watts. Photo: Manuel Harlan

‘TINA: THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL’: Adrienne Warren. Photo: Manuel Harlan

The post ‘Tina: The Tina Turner Musical’: Her life & hits appeared first on StageZine.

‘TINA’: Adrienne Warren as Tina Turner. Photo: Manuel Harlan

TINA
Book by Katori Hall, Frank Ketelaar & Kees Rins
Directed by Phyllida Lloyd
Choreographed by Anthony Van Laast
Through July 20, 2019
Aldwych Theatre
Charing Cross Road
London, United Kingdom
(0845 200 7981), www.tinathemusical.com

By David NouNou

Tina Turner is a force of nature, a hurricane. There are very few artists where you just mention their first name and you see their entire portfolio appearing in your mind. Tina is among those superstars: Aretha, Barbra, Cher, Diana, Donna and Meryl (I threw her in just because she is my favorite actress of all time), just to name a few; no need to say their last name as it would be redundant and stating the obvious.

Tina the Musical is more than a jukebox musical about an artist and her song portfolio inserted into it to recapture nostalgia. Tina actually has a book that is logical and makes sense of the artist’s life. Of course their will be portions or parts that would be missing, that is the nature of a musical; you have to stay on course to hold the audience’s attention

Starting out in Nutbush, Tennessee, her birth place, singing in her father’s ministry, abusive father, deserted by her mother, living with her grandmother and savior, moving to St. Louis at 16 and reconnecting with her mother, marrying Ike and her tumultuous relationship with him, attempting suicide, from stardom to the depths of poverty and depression, going out on her own and rebuilding her career in the record industry and sold-out concerts around the world, to the supernova she is today. It is all here. There is an important aspect that is just mentioned as a blip, and that is her conversion to Buddhism. In fact, it was an integral part of her life; her faith in Buddhism was her salvation.

In addition, there are also her songs that are sung intact and not just snippets: “River Deep, Mountain High,” “Proud Mary,” “Nutbush,” “Let’s Stay Together,” “Private Dancer,” “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” and many more. What is unique here is that the songs come in sequence and are not randomly inserted for the sake of “keep the musical moving” as in the current misconceived Broadway production of Summer – The Donna Summer Musical which I’m sure will no doubt move to London in the near future. The Brits can’t get enough of songbook musicals.

As I stated earlier Tina, the singer, is bigger than life, so the performer that plays her has to capture that essence of Tina’s magnetism. It is not enough to just sing the songs well; you have to transform to be Tina. At the performance we attended, unfortunately the incredible Tony-nominated Adrienne Warren who portrays Tina was on holiday. Being familiar with Ms. Warren’s work, from seeing her in New York in Shuffle Along and Bring It On, I can only imagine the fiery charisma she brings to the character of Tina. At our performance, the role of Tina was played by Aisha Jawando. Credit is certainly due to Ms. Jawando for giving a good performance, singing all the songs well, and the high energy she emits. Unfortunately, she lacks the Tina sparkle that is so unique to Ms. Turner.

A cautionary word to our readers: In London, unlike New York, when a star, lead, or performer is not performing at that performance, there are no announcements, or inserts in the souvenir brochures (what we call Playbills in New York), so you have no idea of which actor is out. We found out about it accidentally as we were picking up our tickets. A big discredit to Ms. Warren, but we enjoyed the show regardless. We can’t wait for Tina to cross the Atlantic and land on Broadway with Ms. Warren as Tina.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published July 8, 2018
Reviewed at June 21, 2018 performance in London

‘TINA’: Adrienne Warren & cast. Photo: Manuel Harlan

‘TINA’: (left to right) Hannah Jay-Allen, Adrienne Warren, Perola Congo, Sia Kia as the Ikettes. Photo: Manual Harlan

‘TINA’: The cast. Photo: Manuel Harlan

‘TINA”: Kobna Holdbrook-Smith & Madeline Applah. Photo: Manuel Harlan

‘TINA’: Adrienne Warren & Jammy Kasongo. Photo: Manuel Harlan

‘TINA’: Adrienne Warren (center) & cast. Photo: Manuel Harlan

‘TINA”: Adrienne Warren & Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. Photo: Manuel Harlan

‘TINA’: Adrienne Warren & Lorna Gayle. Photo: Manuel Harlan

‘TINA’: Adrienne Warren. Photo: Manuel Harlan

‘TINA’: Adrienne Warren. Photo: Manuel Harlan

‘TINA’: Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. Photo: Manuel Harlan

‘TINA’: Aisha Jawando. Photo: Manuel Harlan

‘TINA’: Jammy Kasongo. Photo: Manuel Harlan

‘TINA’: Baker Mukasa & Kit Esuruoso. Photo: Manuel Harlan

‘TINA’: Ryan O’Donnell. Photo: Manuel Harlan

‘TINA’: Gerard McCarthy. Photo: Manuel Harlan

‘TINA’: Jason Langley & Kayleigh McKnight. Photo: Manuel Harlan

The post ‘Tina’: Turner’s life & hits | London Theatre appeared first on StageZine.

‘SHUFFLE ALONG’: Brandon Victor Dixon & Audra McDonald. Photo: Julieta Cervantes

SHUFFLE ALONG
OR THE MAKING OF THE MUSICAL SENSATION OF 1921 AND ALL THAT FOLLOWED
Book by George C. Wolfe
Original Book by F. E. Miller & Aubrey Lyles
Music & lyrics by Noble Sissle & Eubie Blake
Choreography by Savion Glover
Directed by George C. Wolfe
Music Box Theatre
239 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.shufflealongbroadway.com

By David NouNou

The syncopated rhythm of Shuffle Along at the Music Box Theatre will blow you away in this musical within a musical. Act I is about putting together the first all-black musical: cast, producer, director, writers and musicians on Broadway in 1921. Act II is the aftermath and what became of the creators and the people that were involved in this almost forgotten sensation of the era. Both parts are valid and essential. Act I is entertainment of dizzying heights. Act II plods with the usual heavy-handed dialogue that only George C. Wolfe can churn out. What a blissful, deliriously enjoyable and heavenly evening could have been achieved had the director George C. Wolfe toned down the lugubriously preachy writings of writer George C. Wolfe

However, the evening’s real hero is Savion Glover. His choreography is currently unparalleled on Broadway. His syncopated formation of his dancers is perfection to the utmost degree. We sit there dazzled with every number. In large part due to Mr. Glover’s vision, this heavy-handed musical soars into the stratosphere.

It is an understatement to say that putting this magnificent cast together is a major achievement. Audra McDonald (as Lottie Gee, leading lady of the show) is now an American institution. Adjectives are mere words to what her talent offers. Brian Stokes Mitchell as F. E. Miller, part of the duo who conceived the show, reuniting for the first time with Ms. McDonald since 1998’s Ragtime, is a pleasure to watch and hear, but there is not enough of a character that focuses strictly on Mr. Mitchell’s formidable voice and talent. Billy Porter as Aubrey Lyles, the other part of the duo who conceived the show, gives his character the proper comedic and acidic touches but doesn’t come close in gravitas to his Lola from Kinky Boots.

The two best male parts are that of Eubie Blake, the pianist and composer and also Lottie’s lover, played enigmatically and charmingly by the wonderful Brandon Victor Dixon; and Noble Sissle, Eubie’s fellow composer, staunchly and admirably played by Joshua Henry.

Essentially the story revolves around the four gentlemen who were separate duos: F.E. Miller and Aubrey Lyles and Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake pooling their talents together and bringing the first black musical to Broadway. It shows all the pitfalls and travails they endured to bring this musical to life. However, the success, fame and money that Shuffle Along acquired also brought them their demise because, all having the best intentions to re-team, ultimately brought them their separation and alienation from each other.

The ingredients for the perfect musical are all here; unfortunately, the book gets in the way. The dancers and their precision steps are incomparable. Also one cannot overlook the lighting by Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer; they evoke every emotion imaginable and have partnered for many years on lots of shows, and may this brilliant partnership endure forever. Also, the arrangements and orchestrations by Daryl Waters are sensational.

Given all the talent and brilliance that emanates from the show, you can’t go wrong, I do suggest you see the show before mid-July due to Ms. McDonald taking a maternity leave, and no one would ever want to miss an Audra McDonald performance.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published May 11, 2016

‘SHUFFLE ALONG’: Joshua Henry, Brandon Victor Dixon, Billy Porter, Brian Stoke Mitchell & Richard Riaz Yoder. Photo: Julieta Cervantes

‘SHUFFLE ALONG’: Brandon Victor Dixon & Audra McDonald. Photo: Julieta Cervantes

‘SHUFFLE ALONG’: The cast. Photo: Julieta Cervantes

‘SHUFFLE ALONG’: The cast. Photo: Julieta Cervantes

‘SHUFFLE ALONG’: The cast. Photo: Julieta Cervantes

‘SHUFFLE ALONG’: Brandon Victor Dixon & Audra McDonald. Photo: Julieta Cervantes

‘SHUFFLE ALONG’: Brian Stokes Mitchell & cast. Photo: Julieta Cervantes

‘SHUFFLE ALONG’: Billy Porter. Photo: Julieta Cervantes

‘SHUFFLE ALONG’: Brian Stokes Mitchell, Billy Porter, Joshua Henry & Brandon Victor Dixon. Photo: Julieta Cervantes

‘SHUFFLE ALONG’: Brian Stokes Mitchell. Photo: Julieta Cervantes

‘SHUFFLE ALONG’: Brandon Victor Dixon & Joshua Henry. Photo: Julieta Cervantes

‘SHUFFLE ALONG’: Adrienne Warren & Audra McDonald. Photo: Julieta Cervantes

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