The Last 5 Years

Written & Composed by Jason Robert Brown
Directed by Aria Velz
Oct 30-Nov 23, 2025

Is the breakdown of a marriage an ending or beginning? The Last Five Years follows two New Yorkers, rising author Jamie and aspiring actress Cathy, as they fall in and out of love over the course of half a decade. This gut-wrenching, iconic musical, with an acclaimed score by Tony Award-winner Jason Robert Brown, explores how a couple, once united by their dreams, could stray so far from each other as their paths diverge. Told from two opposite timelines, Jamie and Cathy’s perspectives intertwine in a story of love, ambition, and heartbreak.

Meet the Artists

  • Jason Robert Brown

    WRITER & COMPOSER

    Jason Robert Brown is a Tony Award winning writer and composer. His Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals include Parade, The Bridges of Madison County, The Last Five Years, 13, The Connector, Songs for a New World, Honeymoon in Vegas and Mr. Saturday Night. The Last Five Years will have its Broadway premiere this spring, and his newest musical, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, will also premiere on Broadway in 2025. Jason’s recordings as a solo artist include Wearing Someone Else’s Clothes, How We React and How We Recover, Coming from Inside the House and most recently, Jason Robert Brown and Stephen Sondheim: Live in Concert. Jason is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild and the American Federation of Musicians Local 802.

  • Aria Velz

    DIRECTOR

    Aria Velz is a director, producer, and teaching artist born and raised in the DMV. She was most recently at NextStop as the director for The Cake. Other current and recent directing work includes Kim's Convenience and The Brothers Paranormal at Olney Theatre Center, and A Bright Room Called Day at Nu Sass Productions. She is currently the National New Play Network Producer in Residence at Theater Alliance and was an Allen Lee Hughes fellow at Arena Stage.