Broadway musical on big screen

MANILA, Philippines - The Last Five Years movie musical has debuted in Philippine cinemas, starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan. The adaptation of the hit Broadway musical of the same title The Last Five Years is a musical deconstruction of a love affair and a marriage taking place over a five-year period. Jamie (Jordan), a young, talented up-and-coming Jewish novelist falls in love with Cathy (Kendrick), a Shiksa goddess and struggling actress. The film, told almost entirely through song and a beautiful pop music score, portrays an honest, heartbreaking, often funny, exploration of love and its consequences on individual identity.

Their love story is told using an intercutting timeline device where all of Cathy’s songs begin at the end of their marriage to the beginning of their love affair, while Jamie’s songs start at the beginning of their love affair to the end of their marriage.

The Last Five Years movie opened to warm acclaim citing that Kendrick belts her way through Cathy’s songs with strong vocal technique and owns every note. Likewise, Jordan is a vocal powerhouse who soars through the score. Both actors bring the emotional weight when it’s required but also the perfect amount of young energy and sexual passion to their characters, thanks to LaGravenese’s direction.

Kendrick has a slew of projects that showcases her impressive range of talent. She was the lead in the hit comedy-musical, Pitch Perfect. The song Cups, which she performed in the film, has gone multi-platinum, and is one of Billboard’s top songs of 2013. Recognized for her work on screen and stage, Kendrick was nominated for an Oscar in her breakout role in Up in the Air. For her role as Dinah in High Society on Broadway, Kendrick was nominated for a Tony Award (second youngest ever), a Drama Desk Award and a Fany Award (Best Actress Featured in a Musical). Her spectacular performance landed her the Drama League and Theatre World Award.

Tony Award nominee Jordan starred in NBC’s musical drama Smash as Jimmy Collins, a music composer who is creating a present-day rock musical along with his music partner Kyle Bishop (Andy Mientus) in Brooklyn. At Ithaca College, he earned a BFA with honors in performance theater. In 2009, he got his professional start in New York as the understudy to the lead in Broadway’s Rock of Ages. Jordan then went on to star in several Broadway musicals — as Tony in West Side Story, as Clyde Barrow in Bonnie & Clyde and as Jack Kelly in Newsies.