BWW Preview: Piano Pals Reunite at CCTC in THE LAST FIVE YEARS

Only one dorm at the University of Hartford has a piano in basement. As freshmen at the Hartt School of Drama, Sarah Killough and Kevin Quill would cross paths to play it; fast-forward 10 years and they are sharing the same piano once again in a brand-new version of the hit musical The Last Five Years at Cape Cod Theatre Company.

In Jason Robert Brown's emotional and powerful show, two New Yorkers fall in and out of love over the course of five years; Cathy tells her story backwards while Jamie tells it chronologically. This production however is the first attempt where the two characters accompanying each other on piano. "By having Jamie and Cathy accompany one another, it takes an already intimate, innovative show and takes that a natural step further" said Quill in an interview. "As far as anyone knows, including the author, no one has put up the show this way since it premiered in 2002."

Sarah Killough returns to the Cape after recently concluding her Broadway debut as an understudy in Long Day's Journey Into Night at The Roundabout Theatre starring Jessica Lange. She has made numerous appearances at Monomoy Theatre; notably as the guest artist in Lend Me A Tenor and Damn Yankees. Killough started piano lessons at age seven and continues to use it to her advantage as a working actress: "Piano ability has greatly helped my sight-reading skills", remarked Killough, "which is very beneficial for learning new music, quickly. Jason Robert Brown is notorious for writing difficult music so Kevin and I have our work cut out for us to play and sing these songs."

Quill, who grew up on Cape, is also no stranger to the Cape Cod summer stage. His last big project was a run and subsequent regional tour of An Iliad by Lisa Peterson and Denis O'Hare, where Quill delivered a 100-minute modern re-telling of Homer's classic in the one man show where he played the storyteller and all of the characters. Quill took up piano lessons a little later in life than Killough, but made up for lost time as a frequent music director and accompanist throughout the last decade.

In 2010 Quill and his brother co-founded punk band Fowl Play, playing over 100 shows in its three years - an experience that seems to have reinforced his approach to the theatre. "Having started a band from scratch, you quickly learn to do EVERYTHING yourself: write, perform, load-in, load-out, advertise, etc." That experience has kept me pretty hungry to take on projects like this production of The Last Five Years."

With book, music and lyrics all written by Jason Robert Brown (The Bridges of Madison County, Parade), The Last Five Years was the winner of the 2002 Drama Desk Award and was recently made into the film starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan. With only the presence of two characters on stage for the duration of the show, performing a poignant score which includes songs like "I'm Still Hurting" and "Moving Too Fast," The Last Five Years is clearly one oF Brown's triumphs. To steal a quote from Cathy's "See I'm Smiling", "I think you're really gonna like this show."

"I've made many lasting friendships that freshman year I went to The Hartt School with the Class of 2010." says Quill. "It's quite a little family and I'm grateful to be an honorary member of it. I've lived with some of them in NYC, been around for some good times, sad times, Thanksgiving dinners. I'm glad I can add this to the list."

Fear Town Productions' presentation of Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years will enjoy a two­ weekend run at the Cape Cod Theatre Company (home of the Harwich Junior Theatre), located as 105 Division Street in West Harwich. Performances will be held on Fridays and Saturdays only, the dates of August 12th, 13th, 19th and 20th at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 ($15 if under 21) and may be purchased by going over to the box office in person, by calling (508) 432.2002 or by visiting capecodtheatrecompany.org http://capecodtheatrecompany.org; you may choose your own seats through the interactive seating chart if ordering online.

Check out a sneak peek below!

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