54 Below will present the special series The Last Five Years in Concert - with the show's recent stars Adam Kantor and Betsy Wolfe - from October 16 to 19 to celebrate the new cast recording from Sh-K-Boom / Ghostlight Records. These four shows will give audiences a chance to celebrate the musical in the intimate setting of 54 Below with the critically acclaimed performances of Betsy and Adam, along with the full band reunited from this year's hit production at Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director). The composer Jason Robert Brown himself will be at the piano on October 16 -17 at 7:00 PM, with Andrew Resnick taking over on October 18-19 at 11:00 PM. The entire set of concerts will feature Gary Sieger on acoustic guitar, Randy Landau on fretless bass, Thomas Kim Carney on violin, and Summer Boggess and Mairi Dorman on cello. The cover charge ranges from $35 to $45 and there is a $25 food and beverage minimum. Please visit 54Below.com for additional information.
The Last Five Years 2013 Off-Broadway cast recording - based on the hit Second Stage Theatre production created and directed by Jason Robert Brown - will be released both in stores and via online outlets on September 24. To pre-order the album, please visit www.sh-k-boom.com/thelastfiveyears-new.html. Customers who purchase the album before the release date receive an immediate download of the track "The Next Ten Minutes."
The concerts are produced by Sh-K-Boom / Ghostlight Records. The new recording of The Last Five Years was produced by Jason Robert Brown with Kurt Deutsch and Stacey Mindich serving as executive producers. The beloved two-character musical, which has received more than 500 regional productions and 3,000 performances around the world, was extended three times and broke box office records for the Off-Broadway institution and ranks among the longest-running productions in the company's 34 year history. The show's enduring global popularity was also the subject of a recent article in The New York Times.
The 2002 original cast recording of The Last Five Years - the label's first cast album - remains one of their best-selling titles. Sh-K-Boom is also producing a feature film based on the show directed by Richard LaGravenese and starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan. In addition, the label has released both the Broadway and London cast recordings of Brown's 13 - The Musical, as well as his solo album Wearing Someone Else's Clothes.
Jesse Green of New York Magazine calls The Last Five Years, "A gem of a show with jaw-dropping songs beautifully performed by Betsy Wolfe and Adam Kantor, who fill every daredevil leap and riff with torrents of feeling. Jason Robert Brown has put together a beautiful, emotional experience." Melissa Rose Bernardo of Entertainment Weekly calls the score, "Stunning...far and away Jason Robert Brown's finest work," and Joe Dziemianowicz of the Daily Newsraves that the show is "graceful, gripping and break-your-heart beautiful. It's impossible not to swoon."
Jason Robert Brown's contemporary musical The Last Five Years tells the emotionally powerful story of two twenty-something New Yorkers who dive head first into a marriage fueled by the optimism that comes with finding "the one." But in a city where professional and personal passions collide and only the strongest relationships survive, navigating the waters of love and matrimony can sometimes prove too much. Funny, honest and intimate, with an exuberantly romantic score, The Last Five Years takes a bold look at one young couple's hope that love endures the test of time.
On the heels of directing this production of The Last Five Years, Jason Robert Brown is currently working on two new musicals. Honeymoon in Vegas, with a book by Andrew Bergman, will premiere at the Paper Mill Playhouse this fall, and a musical adaptation of The Bridges of Madison County, which he wrote with Marsha Norman, will open on Broadway in January 2014 under the direction of Bartlett Sher.
The Last Five Years featured scenic design by Derek McLane, costume design by Emily Rebholz, lighting design by Jeff Croiter, and sound design byJon Weston. The musical director was Thomas Murray.
Sh-K-Boom with its imprint Ghostlight Records has become the leading independent force in Original Broadway Cast Recordings - building a library of over 130 records in the last 13 years, featuring the most successful Broadway musicals and solo albums by Broadway's biggest stars. Ghostlight recently won the Grammy Award for The Book of Mormon, and released the OBCR of Newsies, the premiere recording of Carrie, the new Grammy-nominated cast recording ofAnything Goes, plus the OCRs Catch Me If You Can, Sister Act and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, as well as solo albums from some of Broadway's biggest stars: Sutton Foster, Kelli O'Hara, Alice Ripley, Christine Ebersole, Melissa Errico and Ben Vereen. Other titles on Ghostlight include the Grammy Award-winning In the Heights, plus Next to Normal, Hair, Legally Blonde, Everyday Rapture, Passing Strange, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and The Drowsy Chaperone. www.sh-k-boom.com.
54 BELOW, Broadway's Supper Club, is the new performance venue in the grand tradition of New York City nightlife. A few blocks from the heart of Times Square and just below the legendary Studio 54, 54 BELOW is a classically designed state-of-the art nightclub in the theatre district that hosts audiences with warmth and style. The venue provides a food and beverage menu from early evening through the wee hours of the morning that is worthy of the world-class entertainment on the stage. In their description of 54 BELOW, The New York Times writes "the club has the intimacy of a large living room with unimpeded views and impeccable sound; there is not a bad seat. Its sultry after-hours ambience is enhanced by brocade-patterned wall panels planted with orange-shaded lanterns. And the atmosphere is warmer and sexier than in Manhattan's other major supper clubs." Located at 254 West 54th Street, 54 BELOW features up to three shows nightly with cover charges ranging from $15-$95. Tickets and information are available at www.54Below.com. Tickets on the day of performance after 4:00 PM are only available by calling (646) 476-3551.
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