The Last Five Years?

[ythcbroadway]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 2:43pm

Was it a good show?

[Pippin]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 2:52pm

search the last five threads on this.

[thibodeaux]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 2:55pm

Oh, just answer the question.

Yes. It is a good show. Beautiful, in fact. Hard to pull off a really strong production without really skilled actors.

The cast recording is exquisite and Brown really shines.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 3:01pm

It has some problems, but overall it's good.

[uncageg]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 3:04pm

It just did a 5 month run (no pun intended) at the Galleria Theater here in Denver earlier this year. And I missed it.

[ythcbroadway]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 3:15pm

Thanks! I was just wondering cause I saw 13 and I heard that The Last Five Years and Songs for a New World were gold . . .?

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 3:27pm

If you want to get into more JRB, I would check out Parade, first. The best of his work, IMO.

[thibodeaux]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 3:35pm

PARADE is amazing...really gorgeous stuff. Some of it really just sends chills through your body.

SONGS is really mixed for me; some songs I adore and others I can't even listen to. And the lack of true plot can be annoying...if you take it as a "song cycle" (so to speak) it's a decent work but not his best.

And I've heard very mixed things about 13 but never never heard it so I can't speak to it.

[broadwayfan3]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 4:26pm

I've only heard the cast recording, but I would love to see it. Does anyone know if it's sung-through musical or if there is dialogue in the middle of songs, if so how much dialogue?

[Remote33]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 4:35pm

There are minor phone conversations and little tiny monologues but no dialogue at all.

[luke-h***]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 5:48pm

I recommend Parade and Last 5 Years. Both are beautiful shows.
It also shows JRB's flexibility as an author if you get into both of them. Shows he can write a phenomenal full-on high production standard musical without flaw and a two person show with just as much brilliance to the score etc. Songs for a New World I saw at the Edinburgh Fringe this year. Not the best cast so not a good start, but it didn't grip me as a show. One of the main guys (who sings the basketball song?) was the most off pitch singer I've heard EVER! Truly, TRULY awful. Another one of the girls had this terrifying smile fixed to her all the time which made it impossible to tell that she was a different character. Mediocre musical compared to L5Y and Parade, but I am just judging from this production, I never know, I could buy the Recording and be blown away...

[ythcbroadway]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 6:10pm

I just purchased most of the last five years and half of songs of a new world cds and im gonna listen tonite and see why everyone raves about them.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 6:16pm

Seriously, get Parade.

[ythcbroadway]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 6:23pm

Ill get that off itunes . . . . so far The Last Five Years has been a major turn off and theres only two songs I like from a new world and 13 just . . . . . ewww . .

[luke-h***]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 6:23pm

Never listened to the Songs For a New World CD, but Last 5 Years is a good choice :) Although I agree with SporkGoddess, GET A PARADE ALBUM! I think the London one is better, as it's the whole show, but if you'd rather listen to just the songs, then the Broadway Recording is also phenomenal, Brent Carver is just...wow! BUT buy the Finale from the Donmar album, shivers everytime they do the a capella verse that is not on the Broadway CD. PARADE...GET IT! :P

[gypsy4]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 6:31pm

the last five yeras score is beautiful.


the last five years score. Updated On: 10/9/08 at 06:31 PM

[ythcbroadway]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 6:37pm

I dont know why but I just cant get into his music

[AlgonquinProd2]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 9:46pm

The cd is better than the show itself. I love the cd, listen to it all the time; but unfortunately I found the show too static and undramatic, despite seeing Butz and Scott (who I love). It's to be expected given the conceit. Just not sure how you make it work.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 10:01pm

I prefer the Parade OBCR to the Donmar recording. But to each their own.

[DooWahDiddy]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 10:06pm

Me too, SG.

And I truly hate to say this because it makes me sound like a snob, but if you don't like "Last 5 Years", then you probably don't get it. Meaning, if you haven't lived through that situation (on either side), then maybe the most you can say is that some of it is pretty. But if you have, I don't see any way you can listen to that score and not be touched on some level.

[fetzles1490]

Posted: 10/9/08 at 10:08pm

It took me awhile to really get into Last 5 Years. For the longest time I really only liked Still Hurting, Shiksa Goddess, and Moving Too Fast, until I made myself sit down and really listen to it. Also, knowing the concept of Cathy and Jamie telling the same story in different directions, meeting in the middle at their wedding, and then listening to the CD with that in mind makes it a lot more interesting, in my opinion.

But yes. Parade. Buy it.

[shiksagoddess2]

Posted: 10/10/08 at 8:15am

Fabulous show.... and I agree with thibodeaux... HAVE to have strong performers.

And yes, PLEASE check out Parade. If that story doesn't move you...

[Weez]

Posted: 10/10/08 at 1:59pm

I'm going to say this once, and once only, so please listen carefully: it is completely possible to comprehend something and yet dislike it anyway. Just because you don't like something doesn't mean you don't get it.

"If you don't like it, then you don't get it" is about one of the most irritating, condescending, and rude things someone can say, so DON'T DO IT. Give the person the other end the benefit of the doubt; assume they have a brain and are perfectly capable of understanding a show.

[DooWahDiddy]

Posted: 10/10/08 at 2:13pm

First of all, relax. I stated my disclaimer about hating to say that, because I knew it made me sound snobbish. However, I think I also did a pretty good job of explaining that I didn't mean if you didn't like it then you didn't understand what was HAPPENING, which is what most people mean when they say that. All I mean is that if you aren't touched on SOME level by the show, then chances are you haven't gone through a divorce or a major break up.

I'm not saying you can't understand the show, or that you don't have a brain. Simply that one's personal experiences can affect whether or not a piece gets to you.

[TheBoyDownstairs]

Posted: 10/10/08 at 3:02pm

I adore The Last Five Years, its one of the few CDs I listened to once and was hooked instantly.

I'm just a huge fan of JRB overall, TL5Y and Parade are two of my all time favorite scores and Songs For A New World has some of my favorite theatre songs, some of the songs don't do it for me, but the best ones are amazing