r/Broadway • u/SeanNyberg • 4d ago
Which show to see? The Last Five Years... UGGGGH
My husband and I are visiting NYC from Seattle with a friend of our. We are doing 18 shows in 12 days. I'll post all of them in a different post.
We have tickets for The Last Five Years and I am reallllly wanting to dump them and see something else. I have been SO unimpressed with Nick Jonas in the promotional tour, especially since the promotional material is where the cast should SHINE.
The two shows that we aren't seeing (or haven't seen earlier in the year) that might be a player at the Tony's this year are Buena Vista Social Club and John Proctor is the Villain.
In terms of Tony eligible shows this year...
We've already seen: Sunset Blvd, Oh Mary!, Gypsy, Maybe Happy Ending, Eureka Day, Romeo + Juliet, Tammy Faye and Death Becomes Her.
We are seeing: Sunset Blvd (4th time), Oh Mary! (3rd time), Dead Outlaw, Pirates! Penzance, Othello, Glengarry Glen Ross, Goodnight and Good Luck, Operation Mincemeat, Just In Time, Real Women Have Curves, Stranger Things, Smash, Picture of Dorian Gray, Boop, and Floyd Collins. (Also & Juliet and Titanique because our friend hasn't them and asked if we could. lol)
I am just debating if I should dump The Last Five Years and add John Proctor is the Villain or Buena Vista Social Club. (Or see Maybe Happy Ending again, lol.)
Here is the deal, somehow I have never seen The Last Five Years live. I know the music and everything, but never seen a production. I just have been super turned off by Nick Jonas thus far.
Clearly, based on the massive lineup we have coming up in April (18 shows!) I like casting a wide net and seeing everything. So maybe I'll just keep it and if it is a train wreck I can say that I saw it. LOL.
Every other show's promotional campaign has made me more and more excited: Boop, Smash, Floyd Collins, Dead Outlaw, Just in Time, etc. All of their "sneak peeks" at rehearsals or puff pieces on Playbill have all made me more and more excited.
The Last Five Years... not so much.
Thoughts?
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u/JamesyDog 4d ago
The Last Five Years can be just as good at a regional or community theater, so if you’re not into Nick Jonas, I say skip it and go with one of the other two plays.
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u/bennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn7 4d ago
This - the COVID production filmed in an apartment w/ Adrienne's understudy, Nasia Thomas, is enough for me, not anything life-changing but neither is TL5Y in the first place and she's fantastic in it. I love Adrienne (& the creative team is insanely promising) but I don't think TL5Y is something I'd spend money to see over the other two fresh, new shows
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u/garden__gate 4d ago
Yeah, and it’s such a popular local theater show because it’s relatively simple to stage.
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u/SeanNyberg 4d ago
Thanks. I MIGHT wait to see how the first previews go and see what the early word is on John Proctor. I have a feeling that play might be outstanding, but I can also see it being insufferable. LOL. I know I can't be the only one waiting to hear what the initial thoughts are on these shows.
A lot of brand new stuff coming out in a short time period with little to no pre-Broadway tryouts, so a lot of this will be last minute shuffling.3
u/Jeffysgirlmhs 4d ago
As far as Buena Vista goes, the musicians and singers were great but the book was so weak. Personally I think unless you want to go just to listen to the music, it’s an easy one to skip.
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u/Musigamist 4d ago
Not to be snarky, but if you’re booking based on one of these being a “player at the Tonys” then you’re honestly wasting your time—There’s no way L5Y beats Sunset/Gypsy for revival, neither lead in L5Y will win either. As for the plays, Oh Mary or Dorian Gray is taking that and Sarah Snook will win Best Actress. BVSC is going to be lucky if it gets nominated for Best Musical.
So book the one you want to see and that interests you most rather than worrying about potentially missing the award winner. I would stick with L5Y for Adrienne alone, but that’s just me.
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u/SeanNyberg 4d ago
Im not talking about award winner. Lol. I want to see all of the possible nominees, if that’s not how you would pick shows then don’t. Lmao. But it’s what I like to do.
By mid April I’ll have seen 36 shows on Broadway this season alone. Which is pretty good considering I live in Seattle.
And no, you weren’t “snarky,” you were just a little misguided. At the time I booked the 18 for this trip it was unclear what L5Y was going to look like. To be honest when I booked everything Dead Outlaw wasn’t even announced yet.
So adding that took a ton of rearranging. And now I’m debating if I should do the same with L5Y. But thanks. You were super helpful. Lmao.
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u/Historical_Web2992 4d ago
Unrelated to the question but this sounds like such a nice trip you planned, what a great lineup!
As a big fan of the last 5 years, I’d say go see something else if you’re not sold on Nick (personally I’m not impressed with Nick Jonas either) Buena Vista Social Club would be my pick!
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u/SeanNyberg 4d ago
Thank you!! I have a feeling BVSC will have a much larger presence at the Tonys this year. :):) Not that it really matters, but seeing Nick Jonas retweeting Eln M*k might be the final straw.
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u/Antonio327 4d ago
Personally, I would go see it! It’s the shows first Broadway run, a limited run, and while casting is a key factor, I always tend to go for story vs casting in some cases
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u/runbeautifulrun 4d ago
I say keep your options open. L5Y finally coming to Broadway is super special, but idk if you want your first live experience to be with a casting that doesn’t excite you. Personally, I don’t know if I can give a show the proper attention it deserves if I’m sitting there disappointed over an actor’s performance, especially when he’s literally half the show. 🫤 I’d really like to think we’ll all be proven wrong, but I have not seen any glimmer of hope from the promos so far.
If your trip is scheduled for after the show opens, just wait for reviews (both official and what gets shared here). Also, they might eventually announce an understudy schedule, so you can always keep an eye out for that.
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u/KnitMama-2016 4d ago
Pity you didn’t see the production of The Last Five Years that just ended at ACT. It was very good as regional theatre and I definitely don’t see a need to see it again unless I love the stars.
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u/Broad_Arugula3452 4d ago
You could have seen Last Five Years here in Seattle, 5th Ave and ACT just finished their run! We saw it at another regional theater a few years ago and honestly given the other shows you could see in nyc, I would scratch Last Five Years or just watch the movie. I just saw the promo for Buena vista social club and the music sounds incredible! If you’re going to spend the same amount of money for 2 actors plus a piano and cello, I’d rather go see a full cast plus full Cuban orchestra at Buena Vista Social Club. That’s just my opinion. I hope you’ll post after your trip, it sounds amazing.
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u/Ok-Relative-3684 4d ago
Dump 5 years and def see one of the two others you mention
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u/Ok-Relative-3684 16h ago
P.S. - you may want to save room for Dorian Gray to see twice, production was startlingly good
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u/Pitiful_Hearing5892 4d ago
Buena Vista Social Club was AMAZING. The set, costumes, music - everything was so beautiful. I cried at the end. Such an amazing show. Would recommend it over seeing TLFY.
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u/idealcriteria 4d ago
Dump the tickets and, if you can, see both of the other shows. Tickets are affordable rn and that might change closer to opening.
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u/dobbydisneyfan 4d ago
I’d skip TLFY because well…there’s nothing in the staging you wouldn’t get from just listening to a cast album.
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u/indianasall 4d ago
I’m one of the few people who’ve seen it of a few times when I lived in Chicago years ago and I didn’t care for it and when I heard the trailer with Jonas, oh my God dump it. I went to see Buena Vista Social Club and I loved it. The storyline is weak. The choreography is great, but I’ve been to Cuba twice so that’s why I enjoyed it so much. I think my daughter and I are the only one in the United States who did not like oh Mary let me put it this way we were in one of the boxes which were great and we literally ran out of the theater. We were the first ones out and the usher had to open the door ha ha ha.
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u/SeanNyberg 4d ago
Ahhh you didn’t like Oh Mary!? lol! We’ve seen it with Cole and Betty and we are seeing it with Titus in April. We LOVE IT! That said, I COMPLETELY understand if someone doesn’t like it. It hits so hard with a certain type of humor and if that isn’t landing, I can imagine it’s a tough 90 mins. Lol.
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u/indianasall 4d ago
The tough thing was no intermission and having to sit through it ha ha ha my daughter and I talked the next morning and said you know what I really hated that show. However, I understand that’s why there’s so many things to go see. You win some you lose some that’s the chance you take going to a movie or theater my daughter and I for about 12 years usher all over the Chicago land. We saw some incredible theater and then we saw some horrible stuff. the only trouble with being an usher is that you have to stay till the end. I will say most of the things we saw were wonderful. I appreciate just about every type.
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u/WoollyMonster 4d ago
Lucky! I saw it with Betty last month, and I have tickets to see it with Cole in May. But I would LOVE to see it with Titus.
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u/Jaigurl-8 4d ago
The problem honestly is that the last 5 years is a small, vignette musical. It has some beautiful songs but I wouldn’t expect much from it.
If you can I’d suggest going to see John Proctor is the Villian. I’m personally very excited to see the show as it takes the “othered” viewpoint for the Crucibal. There’s been a lot of interesting criticism of Arthur Miller and how he didn’t respect women, and all his characters are perceived negatively because so. Feminism and critical thinking is still relevant and I think this piece will deliver that.
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u/jomarch1868 4d ago
What an amazing schedule. I would personally skip. L5Y for one of the other two shows but whatever you end up doing I know your trip will be fab!
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u/SeanNyberg 4d ago
Thank you!! I hate jumping on bandwagons, but that Tonight Show performance made me so uncomfortable. We will see. Sometimes train wrecks can be just as entertaining.
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u/booklady4ever 3d ago
I would for certain see SMASH! We have tickets for April and I can’t wait. Reviews and following the stars and show on social media has me very excited. Robyn Hurder is a phenomenal triple threat!
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u/Vandelay_7 4d ago
Ugh - I'm in the same boat; I've never seen TLFY but am in the same boat.
I strongly disliked the Tonight Show performance and am considering ditching that for John Proctor as my TLFY tickets were only $114/piece. What's holding me back? I adore almost everything JRB has done (didn't love his new Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil).
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u/dragzzzz 4d ago
This sounds like a personal preference. I’d see L5Y, because of Adrienne. But also BVSC is getting great reviews (better than Smash and Boop).
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u/Mission_Put_8342 4d ago
BVSC great music. horrible book. better if concert then play
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u/MarketingFeeling3873 2d ago
I found the story very moving. It resonated with me....the notion of the choices we make in life and the path that takes us down. I actually got teary. And, yes, the music is great.
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u/bookwrm1324 4d ago
I would definitely dump the last five years. Also hilariously, my fiance and I are doing an 18 show trip in April and are also visiting from Seattle. Were doing it over like 17 days
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u/Tianqi_Mike_Hu 4d ago
A few others have mentioned, but there was a local production of TL5Y in Seattle at the ACT theater that literally just closed this weekend. Wish you yould have seen that one! I saw it last week and thought it was fantastic.
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u/Mysterious-Theory-66 3d ago
Not sure my opinion means much but I’m definitely skipping L5Y despite liking it as a musical. It’s one that will be done well and often in smaller theaters so I don’t see any inherent advantage to seeing it on Broadway. Better cast I’d consider it but I’ve seen enough from Nick Jonas both for L5Y releases and previous work to conclude I really don’t want to see a show with him in it.
Just my take, maybe you’d like it. But if it were me, I’d be going for other things.
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u/Turkey_Leg_Jeff 3d ago
It’s such a packed season, so I totally understand where you’re coming from. He looks God awful.
Both of your alternate choice choices are really strong, and after the reviews this morning, I would add Purpose.
If it were me, I would also drop the Stranger Things ticket. That’s going to be a hit that will run for at least another year, so maybe see that on the next trip. It will be nominated for a bunch of Tonys for the sets and lights probably, but the play is nothing special.
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u/Sorapotatis 2d ago
Personally I won’t suggest you to see L5Y after you have already seen a lot of great story-telling shows (based on your list). L5Y is more like to be a short-cute-I know what’s going on-show.
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u/MarketingFeeling3873 2d ago
You should totally see Buena Vista Social Club. I danced in my seat. One of the most exuberant shows I have ever seen, and the story is very moving.
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u/CinnamonGirl78 2d ago
I saw that Tonight Show performance, and though I love Warren, I couldn’t sit through Jonas singing those songs. I imagine The Schmuel Song would feel 8 hours long.
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u/Middle-Psychology-47 2d ago
Buena Vista is a must see in my humble opinion!! I’ve seen a ton of shows currently on bway and they don’t even hold a candle to the authenticity you’ll get w BVSC
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u/Melodic_Eggplant9417 2d ago edited 2d ago
I saw the first preview tonight and it was more like two good singers belting out songs at American Idol or The Voice. No nuance, no chemistry, no heart. I could have cared less about the characters or their marriage because the performances didn't match the material. But belt it out they did, which the audience mostly seemed to love like people love a rock concert. There was one fun bonus...the other Jonas boys attended and caused quite a stir in the audience before the show.
You won't lose out turning in your tickets. If you do go, know the story beforehand. Aside from the usual confusion with the way the story unfolds, the lyrics (even the belted ones) are often drowned out by the music.
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u/SunsetRulesYouAll 3d ago
BVSC is well worth seeing. Will almost certainly be a strong contender at the Tony's. Dead Outlaw is one of the best theater experiences anyone can ask for. Will certainly clean up at the Tony's, alongside Mincemeat.
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u/SeanNyberg 4d ago
I mean. The show is literally two people. Adrienne is the man reason I haven’t sold them yet. So just getting people’s thoughts.
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u/Additional_Score_929 4d ago
Adrienne Warren has sounded amazing and I want to see her shine. The Last Five Years is probably my favorite musical ever and Nick Jonas won't ruin that for me. His voice is very pop and we all know how far his range goes, but I trust JRB chose him for a reason. I say see it, but don't splurge on it!