The Last Five Years
Book, Music and Lyrics by Jason Robert Brown
Directed by Rob Lutfy
Low-priced Previews Oct 23 - Oct 26, 2019
Written by Tony Award-winning composer Jason Robert Brown (Parade), The Last Five Years is an emotionally powerful and intimate musical about two New Yorkers in their twenties who fall in and out of love over half a decade. Made up mostly of solo turns, with beautiful music and alternately humorous and heartfelt lyrics, it is only in the middle of the show that Jamie and Cathy come together as Jamie proposes and the two are wed.
“CRITIC’S CHOICE!” – The San Diego Union-Tribune
“a beautifully bittersweet revival” – Jim Hebert, The San Diego Union-Tribune
“With compelling performances and impressive vocals by Cusimano and Williams this musical is easy to fall in love with” – ErinMarie Reiter, BroadwayWorld
“If you’ve seen this unique musical before, you’ve never seen it with the depth and nuance this production teases from it. If you haven’t experienced it, you’ll appreciate Brown’s lively mix of pop, jazz, rock and folk music, and his clever and poignant lyrics.” – Pat Launer, Times of San Diego
“Cusimano and Williams sound and move so well together that their performances are almost balletic.” – David Coddon, San Diego CityBeat
“By shuffling freely through time, this superb musical at Cygnet Theatre finds lasting value in a brief relationship.” – Dan Letchworth, San Diego Magazine
Run Time: 90 minutes, no intermission.
Advisories: Mild to moderate use of profanity.
Cast
Michael Louis CusimanoMichael Louis Cusimano
Jamie WellersteinMichael Louis Cusimano is an actor and singer who has been seen on many stages around San Diego since relocating from New York 3 years ago. SoCal credits include: Once (Guy) and Big Fish (Will Bloom) among other roles at Lamb’s Players Theatre; The Tale of Despereaux at The Old Globe; Spamalot (Lancelot) at Moonlight Amphitheatre; Homos, or Everyone in America (Dan), Girlfriend, and This Beautiful City at Diversionary; The Rocky Horror Show (Riff Raff) and On the 20th Century (Bruce Granit) at Cygnet; Metamorphoses (Orpheus) at Santa Barbara Ensemble Theatre; The 39 Steps (clown) at Glendale Centre Theatre; and Grease (Danny Zuko) at Cabrillo Music Theatre. New York City credits include Titus Andronicus (Marcus), world premiere of The Haunted Train (Dr Barnes) and Chien de Moi at La MaMa ETC. TV: Devil in the Details on Investigation Discovery. Michael is a BFA grad of Carnegie Mellon School of Drama. IG: @koozimano
Racquel WilliamsRacquel Williams
Cathy HiattRacquel was raised in Birmingham, Alabama where she found her passion for musical theatre, and was apart of Red Mountain Theatre Company. After graduating high school she moved to New York for college, attending The American Musical and Dramatic Academy for two years. Directly after college she was hired to be a Lead Singer with Norwegain Cruise Lines and had the opportunity to travel the world for two years. She performed various types of shows, from Rock n Roll to the Golden Era of Hollywood Movie Musicals. Racquel currently lives in New York City and she is very excited to be making her Cygnet debut as Cathy in The Last Five Years!
Michael Louis Cusimano
Michael Louis Cusimano is an actor and singer who has been seen on many stages around San Diego since relocating from New York 3 years ago. SoCal credits include: Once (Guy) and Big Fish (Will Bloom) among other roles at Lamb’s Players Theatre; The Tale of Despereaux at The Old Globe; Spamalot (Lancelot) at Moonlight Amphitheatre; Homos, or Everyone in America (Dan), Girlfriend, and This Beautiful City at Diversionary; The Rocky Horror Show (Riff Raff) and On the 20th Century (Bruce Granit) at Cygnet; Metamorphoses (Orpheus) at Santa Barbara Ensemble Theatre; The 39 Steps (clown) at Glendale Centre Theatre; and Grease (Danny Zuko) at Cabrillo Music Theatre. New York City credits include Titus Andronicus (Marcus), world premiere of The Haunted Train (Dr Barnes) and Chien de Moi at La MaMa ETC. TV: Devil in the Details on Investigation Discovery. Michael is a BFA grad of Carnegie Mellon School of Drama. IG: @koozimano
Racquel Williams
Racquel was raised in Birmingham, Alabama where she found her passion for musical theatre, and was apart of Red Mountain Theatre Company. After graduating high school she moved to New York for college, attending The American Musical and Dramatic Academy for two years. Directly after college she was hired to be a Lead Singer with Norwegain Cruise Lines and had the opportunity to travel the world for two years. She performed various types of shows, from Rock n Roll to the Golden Era of Hollywood Movie Musicals. Racquel currently lives in New York City and she is very excited to be making her Cygnet debut as Cathy in The Last Five Years!
Creative Team
Jason Robert Brown
Jason has been hailed as “one of Broadway’s smartest and most sophisticated songwriters since Stephen Sondheim” (Philadelphia Inquirer). The New York Times refers to Jason as “a leading member of a new generation of composers who embody high hopes for the American musical.” His major musicals as composer and lyricist include: The Bridges of Madison County, a musical adapted with Marsha Norman from the bestselling novel, which received two Tony Awards (for Best Score and Orchestrations); Honeymoon in Vegas, based on Andrew Bergman’s film; 13, written with Robert Horn and Dan Elish; The Last Five Years, which was cited as one of Time Magazine’s 10 Best of 2001 and won Drama Desk Awards for Best Music and Best Lyrics; Parade, written with Alfred Uhry, which won both the Drama Desk and New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards for Best New Musical, as well as the Tony Award for Original Score; Songs for a New World, a theatrical song cycle directed by Daisy Prince, which played Off-Broadway in 1995. Future projects include a new chamber musical created with Daisy Prince and Jonathan Marc Sherman called The Connector; an adaptation of Lillian Lee’s Farewell My Concubine, created with Kenneth Lin and Moisés Kaufman; and a collaboration with Billy Crystal, Amanda Green, Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel on a musical of Mr. Saturday Night.
Bonnie Durben
Cygnet Theatre; Rock of Ages , Spamalot, HIR and a multitude of other shows. Moonlight Productions; Victor/Victoria, West Side Story, Matilda and more past seasons. Other Venues; Mira Costa College, Diversionary Theatre Scripts Ranch, Roustabouts and independent productions. Member of SPAM.
Justin Humphres
Justin Humphres is a scenic and video designer based in San Diego, CA. He is a founding member of People of Interest, a non-profit theatre company dedicated to creating theatrical experiences around individual stories, revealing the hidden truths through new original work. Recent credits include: The Great Leap (Steppenwolf Theatre Co.); Q&A (Manilla, Philippines); Man of God (East West Players); Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Diversionary Theatre); Actually, Vietgone (San Diego Rep). Broadway credits include: Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations. (Associate Designer), SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical (Associate Designer). Justin holds a BFA from Western Michigan University and an MFA from University of California, San Diego. www.justinhumphres.com
Matt Lescault-Wood
Matt Lescault-Wood is excited to be back at Cygnet. Previous credits include; Sweeney Todd, Cabaret, Little Shop of Horrors, A Behanding In Spokane, Man of La Mancha, Assassins, Company, Spring Awakening, Pageant, Sons of the Prophet, My Fair Lady, Shockheaded Peter, Spamalot (Cygnet); Eurydice [2010 San Diego Critics Circle Nominee], Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Hickorydickory, ENRON, Eternally Bad, The Kid Thing, Bliss, Voyeurs de Venus (Moxie); Lizard Boy; The Moors, The Loneliest Girl Alive, This Beautiful City, Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Diversionary); Evita, Roz and Ray [2017 San Diego Critics Circle Nominee], Hand To God; Black Pearl Sings, Beachtown, Fun Home, A Doll’s House Part 2, Sweat, 33 1/3: House of Dreams (San Diego REP); Henry V [2014 San Diego Critics Circle Nominee] (New Fortune). Matt has a Degree in Theatrical Design and Technology from SDSU.
Rob Lutfy
Rob is the Associate Artistic Director at Cygnet Theatre. Cygnet Theatre: The Virgin Trial, Pride and Prejudice, Marie and Rosetta, HIR, Every Brilliant Thing, The Wind and the Breeze, The Last Wife, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, Shockheaded Peter, Bad Jews, Stupid F***ing Bird, When the Rain Stops Falling, Hay Fever, Sons of the Prophet, The Motherf**ker with the Hat. Elsewhere: Clown Play, NYC International Fringe Festival; The Gin Game, Anacostia Playhouse; The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Threshold Repertory; The Sunset Limited, 3M Productions; Time Stands Still, Collaborative Arts, Bodas de sangre, Grossmont College. He has worked on plays in development at The Kennedy Center, The O’Neill Theatre Center, Burning Coal Theatre, The Hub Theatre and The Rensing Center. He has assisted directors at Shakespeare Theatre Company, Folger Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Arena Stage, The Kennedy Center and Marin Theatre Company. He was the 2014-2015 National New Play Network Producer-in-Residence at Marin Theatre Company, and the 2012-2013 William R. Kenan, Jr. Directing Fellow at The John F. Kennedy Center. Rob is a graduate of the directing program under Gerald Freedman at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
Patrick Marion
Cygnet Theatre Resident Artist. Cygnet Theatre: Rock of Ages, Shockheaded Peter, Gypsy, The Rocky Horror Show, My Fair Lady, A Christmas Carol, Spring Awakening, Company, Assassins, Little Shop of Horrors, Cabaret. San Diego Theatre: Lamb’s Players Theatre (Associate Artist): miXtape, The Music Man, An American Christmas (’09 through ’12), Pump Boys and Dinettes, Godspell, Boomers; San Diego Musical Theatre: Smokey Joe’s Cafe; Diversionary Theatre: Moscow (Award for Outstanding Musical Direction, StageSceneLA); American Rose Theatre: Spring Awakening; Francis Parker: Once on This Island, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Always, Patsy Cline; Coronado Playhouse: Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party; Ariel Performing Arts: Zanna, Don’t! A Musical Fairy Tale; Regional Theatre: Temecula Valley Players: Jesus Christ Superstar.
Blake McCarty
Blake McCarty is a director and designer, as well as the co-founder of Blindspot Collective, a theatre company devoted to transformative new work that cultivates and celebrates emerging artists, diverse audiences, and fresh ideas. Previous Cygnet productions: Rock of Ages, Angels in America, Spamalot, On the Twentieth Century, and The Rocky Horror Show. Upcoming: directing the touring production of Danny’s Story, a new play about transgender teens, and an artistic residency at the San Diego International Airport. Elsewhere as a designer: Light Years Away (La Jolla Playhouse); 33 1/3: House of Dreams, Evita, and Beachtown (San Diego Rep); This Beautiful City (Diversionary); Shadowlands, American Rhythm, and Oz (Lamb’s Players); Cloud Tectonics, Buddy, and Return to Forbidden Planet (New Village Arts); and Sunday in the Park with George (Ion). He holds a BFA in Film Production and an MA in Educational Theatre, both from New York University.
Anne E McMills
Anne E. McMills’ career extends across the many facets of the lighting world—from theatre (including Broadway and the West End) to television and theme parks to architectural lighting, corporate industrials, concerts, cruise ships, award shows, dance, and opera. In addition to designing her own work, Anne has assisted many Tony Award-winning Broadway designers, mounting productions throughout the world. Anne is a proud member of United Scenic Artists, Local 829, as well as the author of The Assistant Lighting Designer’s Toolkit and 3D Printing Basics for Entertainment Design. Anne is the Head of Lighting Design for the MFA in Design and Technology at San Diego State University. Recent design work at the Cygnet: Marie & Rosetta. For further information, visit www.annemcmillslighting.com.
Michael Mizerany
Michael is the artistic director for Compulsion Dance & Theater. Choreography Credits: At Cygnet: Pride and Prejudice, Stupid F**king Bird, When the Rain Stops Falling, Spring Awakening. Elsewhere: Dooley, Divine Sister, Miss Kitty’s Wild West Revue, Scrooge In Rouge, Thrill Me, Bare: A Pop Opera, A New Brain, Hot Guys Dancing 1-3, In The Va Va Voom Room 1 & 2 (Diversionary Theatre); Chicago: A Speakeasy Cabaret, Grey Gardens, Ass, or A Midsummer Night’s Fever, Jesus Hates Me, Airline Highway (Ion Theatre); Carnival!, Suds, Altar Boyz (The Coronado Playhouse); The Full Monty (New Village Arts); Trolley Dances (SDDT); Rent (Southwestern College); West Side Story, Once on this Island, The Wiz (J*Company).
Emily Wilson
Emily Wilson is excited to be making her Cygnet design debut. In addition to working as a costume designer Emily has expertise as a craft artisan/dyer has secured her the position of crafts assistant at The Old Globe and Dyer at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Emily completed her MFA and San Diego State University and BFA in theatre at Millikin University. Works include: The Great American Trailer Park Christmas Musical, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner at Sierra Repertory Theatre; How Water Behaves, They Built America, Pure Poe at Capital Reparatory Theatre; Biloxi Blues, Little Shop of Horrors, Miss Abigail’s Guide to Dating, Mating, and Marriage!, Rounding Third at Millbrook Playhouse.
October 2019