Jason Robert Brown to direct The Last Five Years at the St James

Tony Award-winning composer Jason Robert Brown to direct a revival of The Last Five Years.

It has been announced that a new production of The Last Five Years will run at the St James Theatre in Victoria, running from 28 Oct to 26 Nov 2016, directed by composer Jason Robert Brown. 

The show will star Jonny Bailey and Samantha Barks as lovers Cathy and Jamie and follows their five-year relationship with Cathy starting at the end of their marriage and Jamie starting at the beginning. The musical originally premiered off-Broadway in 2002 and was revived in 2013 with Adam Kantor and Betsy Wolfe. It was recently adapted into a film starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, composer Jason Robert Brown said "I'm not writing for beginners or amateurs, I'm writing for the highest level of performance. That incredible, high level of technique is not something you get just because you're famous; it's something you have to work very hard for..." Commenting on the casting, he said "You could sense that the two of them immediately had what we lazily call 'chemistry'."

Brown is a composer, lyricist, conductor, arranger, orchestrator, director and performer, most well known for his musicals Parade, Songs For a New World, Honeymoon in Vegas and The Bridges of Madison County. He last performed in the UK with a staged concert production of his musical 13.

Samantha Barks shot to fame on the BBC talent search 'I'd Do Anything'. She went on to star in UK tours of Oliver! and Cabaret, and joined the London production of Les Miserables in the role of Eponine which she reprised for the film adaptation. She recently starred in Berkeley Repertory Theatre's world premiere of Amelie, a New Musical.  

Jonny Bailey is known for his TV roles in 'Broadchurch' and 'Leonardo' and on stage recently starred in the original production of American Psycho at the Almeida Theatre.

Tickets will go on general sale on Monday 27th June 2016.