The musical (yes, musical) I have chosen to do my Show and Tell on is The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown (2002). It premiered Off-Broadway in 2002 starring Norbert Leo Butz and Sherie Rene Scott, and was just recently revived this year. Here is the link to Jason Robert Browns website where he has information on how to read/listen to/perform his shows.
http://jasonrobertbrown.com/projects/the-last-5-years/
This musical tells the story of a young man and woman and their relationship. However, the story does not completely take place chronologically. In the beginning of the show, the girlfriend Cathy is telling her point of view on the end of their relationship. The boyfriend, Jamie, starts at the beginning of their relationship. The plot covers their entire story, from their first date until the end, which you know from the start is ultimately coming.
I had seen a production of this show before and wanted to read the lyrics and listen to the score again to fully re experience this play. What I find most interesting about this production is the choice to have the story being told from backwards to forwards, while simultaneously being told from the beginning. You get all sides of the story this way. Even more interesting, is this choice from Jason Robert Brown allows the play to not be a cryfest the whole time. Even though this relationship does not work out, there are happy moments from both characters up until the end of the show. This show is also written to be performed simply: not requiring in depth work from all tech elements of performance.
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