The pianist for "The Last Five Years" (Currently running at the Plaze Theatre) sent me this audience review of the show written by Dan Whiting.
I wanted to tell every one to go see Last Five Years at the Plaza Theater. It's a fantastic production. Someone I know once said something about Jason Robert Brown, that he writes very intelligent, complex music and stories. She didn't put it that way of course. She made it sound a lot more fun. But basically his stuff is not brainless pop music. It's rich and detailed and wonderfully saturated and still there are great contrasts. It's more like talking about a great photograph . There is so much beauty to see... anyway.
John deHaas plays piano throughout ... some 75 minutes long, I think the show is, and it seems like the music hardly ever stops . Maybe it did, but the play works so well on so many levels that the music and acting and singing are a complete experience.
Sometimes you go to a play and you like one particular song, or you notice a particular costume. I'm assuming Mr. Brown did this on purpose, but this play all seems to work so well because every thing fits together so perfectly. The parts mesh so well and make for something incredible. I am done gushing. I probably sound foolish.
Anyway, if you're in Orlan do next weekend, and you have $13, you aren't going to find anything better to spend it on than this play. And in supporting shows like this, hopefully more culturally rich production s will come to the area, and people will stop complaining that Orlando is plastic and there is nothing to do.