THE LAST FIVE YEARS

THE LAST FIVE YEARS MUSICAL BACK ON STAGE AT MADLENAINUM

Premiere Revival: 27 October

Written and Composed by: JASON ROBERT BROWN

Originally produced for the New York Stage by Arielle Tepper and Marty Bell

Originally produced by Northlight Theatre Chicago, IL

The first production of this musical was staged in our theatre in 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the only complete, integral musical production in theatres that season. Choosing the title was quite challenging, and the process of preparation was demanding and complex, a fact best understood by the authors and protagonists of the musical. At first glance, this may seem like a smaller musical, but only in terms of the number of participants. Working on this performance once again proved to us that there are no simple or 'small' projects. The choice of the title was very complicated because we always prioritized attractiveness, listenability, and modernization, primarily for our audience. By choosing The Last Five Years, we have made a leap in our repertoire policy, introducing the form of modern musicals that have been current on the most prestigious world stages (Broadway and the West End) for over 10 years. Since the play was not performed enough during the pandemic, we are bringing it back to our stage, this time with a refreshed ensemble. The premiere of the revival is on 27 October, with reruns on 4 and 22 November.

And precisely because of all these unusual challenges, we decided to engage a proven and well-coordinated author’s team, led by the director, a guest from Croatia, Robert Boskovic, who has achieved highly successful productions on our stage (operettas The Merry Widow and Parisian Life, as well as the concert performance The Lights of the Stage). A conductor Vesna Souc, our regular collaborator in musical productions (the musical Les Misérables, the operas Dusk and Ana Frank, the concert performance Musical Journey, operettas The Merry Widow and Parisian Life), a set designer Vesna Rezic and choreographer Milica Cerovic (both from the author’s team of The Merry Widow and Parisian Life), a costume designer Snezana Pesic Rajic, Srdjan Jovanovic, a lightning designer, Dusan Arsikin, a sound designer, mapping, holograms and projections are done by Matej Bodrusic and Aleksandar Rapajic as well as many others taking part in this project author’s team, all have faced significant demands, but fulfilling them with outstanding quality.

From the old cast of actor-singers, Branislava Podrumac and Zarko Stepanov remain, while Dimitrije Cincar-Kostic is taking a break until next year. The ones who will join this already well-coordinated team in the revival this season are Tatjana Dimitrijevic, Irma Dragicevic, a guest from Croatia, and Arsenije Tubic. All of them are proven stars of our stage as they have participated in various musical productions at the Madlenianum. The ballet ensemble includes Jana Jovicevic, Jelena Nenadovic, Tara Tomasic, Tijana Ostojic, Veljko Randjic, Mateja Vicentijevic, Luka Stefanovic and Vladimir Sekulic, while in the orchestra are Dragana Andjelic Bunjac / Milivoje Veljic, Milica Grujic, Serin Radeski, Jasmina Vrbanic, Vojin Nenadovic, Mladen Lukic and Milos Branisavljevic / Nikola Djokic.

The Broadway hit, having its Hollywood screen adaptation in 2015, composed and written by Jason Robert Brown, portrays love, suffering, career pursuit, marriage and separation in a highly attractive musical and dramatic form. Significant musical and acting challenges are placed upon just two main actors, accompanied by a small ensemble of performers and a band consisting of only six musicians. What makes this story particularly appealing is the 'deconstruction of the love story,' as conductor Vesna Souc pointed out. “Already in the first contact with the piece, a clear and unbreakable connection began to emerge, as well as a specific conditioning of musical and textual content. It was obvious that the idea and emotion come from one person's pen, and that the story itself is autobiographical”. Vesna Souc has, in co-authorship with Jovana Jezdovic, also handled the translation and adaptation, which posed a particular challenge in harmonizing the music and text while strictly adhering to all the rules of the Serbian language, dramaturgical deadlines, finding rhymes, and so on. “By repeating certain verses throughout the musical, the author shows how the same words can express different emotions – anger and love, pain and hope. Therefore, preserving textual references, humor, and contemporary language in the adaptation are a challenge but also the thread that makes this work unique”, emphasizes Souc.

The composer Jason Robert Brown is a great musician and pianist, with a deep understanding of musical structure, a brilliant arranger (winner of the prestigious Tony Award for his musical The Bridges of Madison County), and all of this is clearly noticeable in the musical texture of this piece. The blends of rock and pop music, excellent jazz and blues, Latin rhythms and modern arrangements promise good entertainment along with the plot that will always provoke thoughtful reflection.

The Last Five Years is a musical that primarily talks about emotion. It portrays the lives of two people who experience a whirlwind of emotions in five years, through their meeting, engagement, marriage and breakup, all presented in two contrasting dramatic storylines. “This is definitely a dramatic musical and to me, a director, it was a great challenge to showcase all my knowledge and skills in directing acting, dance and spectacle. I must mention that for actors and singers, and even for dancers, where some have been given small acting tasks, this play is very challenging as it reveals everything that the performer carries within at that moment and everything they have learned in their career so far,' said director Boskovic.

The musical is performed in arrangement with Music Theatre International (Europe) Limited: www.mtishows.eu.

 

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NEW MADLENIANUM HIT MUSICAL

Written and Composed by JASON ROBERT BROWN

Originally produced for the New York stage by Arielle Tepper and Marty Bell
Originally Produced by Northlight Theatre Chicago, IL

As soon as the epidemiological measures allowed it, the Opera & Theatre Madlenianum started working on a new musical, the contemporary love story The Last Five Years by the New York writer and composer Jason Robert Brown. The musical about a love affair and marriage that lasted for five years, directed by Robert Boskovic, under the conducting baton of Vesna Souc and choreographed by Milica Cerovic, is being daily diligently prepared by Branislava Podrumac, Zarko Stepanov, Mina Gligoric and Dimitrije Cincar Kostic. The part of the Team of Authors are also Vesna Rezic, a set designer, Snezana Pesic, a costume designer, Srdjan Jovanovic, a lighting designer and Dusan Arsikin, a sound designer, while 3D mapping, holograms and projections are done by Matej Bodrusic and Aleksandar Rapajic. The story follows Jamie, a young, talented, Jewish writer who falls in love with Cathy, an actress, struggling to build her career. Their love story, from dating, marriage, rows and splitting up, over a five-year period, is made as music "deconstruction" of a love relationship. All Cathy’s songs begin with the end of their marriage and go back to the period of love, while Jamie's songs begin when they start a relationship and go towards the end of the marriage, and they "meet" at the moment of the proposal. The musical is presented in arrangement with the Music Theatre International (Europe) Limited: www.mtishows.eu. It will be premiered on the Large Stage of Madlenianum on May 15, with the first revival on May 16.

The composer Jason Robert Brown had been working as a pianist in nightclubs and cabarets for years until he met Daisy Prince, the daughter of the famous Broadway producer and director, Harold Prince. They have created numerous musicals together, and their third musical, The Last Five Years, premiered in Chicago in 2001, moves to Off Broadway. Brown's musical Parade has achieved the greatest success, winning Tony Award for the best score.

Working simultaneously on musical, directing and choreographic rehearsals, our talented artists are completely dedicated to preparation of this piece. Branislava Podrumac, the soprano of magical voice with great transforming power, who has been equally easy reigning the stage in the operas The Magic Flute, The Dusk and Pagliacci, operettas The Merry Widow and Vienna Blood, and above all the musicals Rebecca, Les Miserables, but also in dramatic roles (Little Secrets), singing leading and notable roles for many years on the stage of Madlenianum. An excellent concert performer in various genres showed her superiority in our latest production, The Lights of the Stage, premiered on January 30, 2021.

Zarko Stepanov, an actor and a double bassist as well, was born in Novi Sad. Therefrom might come his calmness and refrain in working with colleagues. He is a permanent member of the Terazije Theatre, where he has played the main roles in leading musicals, and he has been at the Opera & Theatre Madlenianum since 2007 with the role in the musical Les Miserables, and afterwards the very impressive role of Ben in the musical Rebecca, to the latest operetta premiere of The Merry Widow, magnificently playing the role of Baron Zeta, the main events initiator. The role of Jamie is his first leading role at the Madlenianum.

Mina Gligoric, a soprano, is a new hope of our stage, having made her way swiftly as a soloist that we can absolutely count on. With her recognizable voice, Mina has debuted as Pamina in the opera The Magic Flute, she is splendid as Valencienne in The Merry Widow, Cosette and Fantina in Les Miserables, but also as Hanna Glawari in The Merry Widow, which she sang at the beginning of this season, rescuing thus already sold-out play. Our audience can see her in the musical performance The Lights of the Stage.

The young tenor Dimitrije Cincar Kostic is yet to be heard of. After finishing solo singing in the class of Professor Nenad Nenic at the Music School "Kosta Manojlovic", this well-mannered and multi-talented fellow (plays the violin, holder of black belt in karate, a lawyer by profession) has been improving his skills with Katarina Jovanovic at the Faculty of Music and hopefully he will continue schooling at this faculty this year, as an extraordinary talent. During his singing schooling, he competed and won numerous awards, of which the most important are the first prize and the title of laureate at the Republic competition in 2017 and the first prize at the Republic competition in 2019. Since 2017, he has been a member of the musical Les Miserables ensemble at the Opera & Theatre Madlenianum and since 2018 he has been a member of the choir ensemble of the Terazije Theatre. He is still remembered for his debut as Count Danilo in The Merry Widow operetta. is still remembered today. The Opera & Theatre Madlenianum is proud of this young, talented man to be a part of the ensemble of The Lights of the Stage performance.