Jason Robert Brown’s generation defining musical The Last Five Years, starring two of Australia’s most loved musical theatre performers, Mackenzie Dunn and Javon King, will play in Sydney and Melbourne from January 2027.
Celebrating its recent 25th anniversary with two productions that ran for limited sold out seasons on Broadway (Hudson Theatre) and the West End (London Palladium), as well as a run at Radio City Music Hall featuring Rachel Ziegler and Ben Platt, the story follows the deeply personal and universally relatable story of the five year relationship between struggling actress Cathy and rising novelist Jamie.
“This musical is one of the greatest scores of all time. It is both a marathon and a performer’s dream. Javon and I have been talking about this show as a pipe dream since we first met in 2022 when we worked together in Hairspray,” said Perryman Theatre Company’s Mackenzie Dunn.
“Five years later (or should I say over The Last Five Years) we are finally making this dream a reality and I couldn’t be more thrilled for audiences to see this fabulous production.”
Two young people fall in love, or into the idea of love, and while one character, Jamie, tracks the journey of their relationship from beginning to end, Cathy reflects on its impact from the point of no return. The Last Five Years follows Jamie’s story from the moment he meets Cathy, while Cathy’s story begins at the moment she knows Jamie has gone.
Javon King (Jamie) is a Green Room Award winning performer. He is currently starring in the International Tour of Jesus Christ Superstar as Judas after his Sydney Theatre Award nominated performance of the same role in the Australian tour production.
Previous Australian theatre credits include; Goldie Wilson in Back To The Future, Tristan/Young Man 6 in The Inheritance, Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls (Green Room Award Winner – Best Supporting Actor) and Seaweed J. Stubbs in the Australian tour of Hairspray (Green Room Award nomination).
Mackenzie Dunn (Cathy) was recently seen as Dawn in Waitress. Other theatre credits include Rizzo in Grease, Lily St Regis in Annie, Penny in Hairspray, Evelyn Nesbit in Ragtime, Judy in the Sydney Opera House season of A Chorus Line, Francine in Jersey Boys and the Princess Fiona Understudy in Shrek The Musical.
In 2018, Mackenzie was the recipient of Best Newcomer in Theatre at the Western Australian Performing Arts Awards after performing as Bubba Ryan in Summer of the Seventeenth Doll and Squeaky Fromme in Assassins with Black Swan STC.
Jason Robert Brown is a composer, lyricist, conductor, arranger, orchestrator and director, best known for his dazzling scores to several of the most renowned musicals of our time, including Songs for a New World and Parade, winner of the Tony Award for Best Score and Best Revival of a Musical. He has been hailed as “one of Broadway’s smartest and most sophisticated songwriters since Stephen Sondheim.”
His score of The Bridges of Madison County received two Tony Awards for Best Score and Best Orchestration, a film version of The Last Five Years starred Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan and his work on the musical Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil with Taylor Mac is currently in preparation for its Broadway premiere.
Named in honour of legendary Australian performer Jill Perryman, The Last Five Years is produced by Perryman Theatre Company, an exciting new generation of storytellers, whose first project was the development season of One Day In September which played to sold out crowds at The Athenaeum Theatre 2 in November 2024.
Director: Trudy Dunn | Featuring: Mackenzie Dunn, Javon King | Musical Director: Kohan Van Sambeeck | Set and Costume Designer: Bianco Pardo | Lighting Designer: Jasmine Rizk | Sound Designer: Michael Waters
The Last Five Years will play The Foundry (Sydney Lyric Theatre) from 14 January – 6 February, before playing the Beckett Theatre – Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne, from 18 February – 14 March 2027. For more information, visit: www.perrymantc.com.au for details.
Image: Javon King and Mackenzie Dunn to star in The Last Five Years (supplied)