Janet Dacal, Christopher A. Kent to Lead THE LAST FIVE YEARS at Actors' Playhouse

Actors' Playhouse will welcome back Broadway star Janet Dacal and fan favorite Christopher A. Kent as they star in Jason Robert Brown's Drama Desk Award-winning musical The Last Five Years from December 5 - 30, 2012 at the Miracle Theatre.

The Last Five Years is a contemporary song-cycle musical that explores a five-year relationship between Jamie Wellerstein, a rising novelist, and Cathy Hiatt, a struggling actress. The story, told in the exuberant and heart-rending songs of award-winning composer Jason Robert Brown, chronicles the young couple's romance in a new and exciting way: her story starts at the end of their relationship; his begins on the day they met. Funny and uplifting, the show captures some of the most heartbreaking and universally felt moments of modern romance, and promises to be an artistic treat for South Florida audiences.

Jason Robert Brown (13, Parade, Songs for a New World) is a Tony Award-winning contemporary composer renowned for his complex orchestrations, challenging vocals, and touching songs, which fuse pop-rock stylings with theatrical lyrics.

Actors' Playhouse Artistic Director David Arisco will bring MR. Brown's critically acclaimed score to life with a stellar two-person cast.

"To celebrate our theatre's 25th Anniversary Season with Janet Dacal, now a legitimate Broadway star, returning to where it all started for her is a unimaginable treat," said Artistic Director David Arisco. "Both Janet and her co-star Christopher A. Kent were born to sing Jason Robert Brown's incredibly demanding and delicious score."

Janet Dacal (Cathy Hiatt) starred in Broadway’s Wonderland as the lead role of Alice, and also played the lead, Nina Rosario, in the Tony Award-winning Musical In the Heights, after having originated the role of Carla in the original Off-Broadway and Broadway productions. Dacal's Broadway debut was in The Beach Boys musical Good Vibrations, and she also appeared Off-Broadway in Byzantium. The actress started her professional musical theatre career in Actors' Playhouse's 2002 production of Four Guys Named José...and Una Mujer Named Maria, and also appeared in the company's productions of Five Course Love (Carbonell nomination), Urinetown and Annie.

Christopher A. Kent (Jamie Wellerstein) is a multiple Carbonell Award nominee who has starred in 30+ shows at Actors’ Playhouse over the past twenty years, and performed alongside Janet Dacal in the company’s 2006 production of Five Course Love. Recent credits include: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Hairspray (Actors’ Playhouse), The Last Five Years (Places, Please Theatre Co.), At Last (Aventura Cultural Arts Center), Song Of The Living Dead (Promethean Theatre), and Next Fall (Caldwell Theatre).

The creative team for The Last Five Years includes Musical Director Emmanuel Schvartzman, Set Designer Sean McClelland, Costume Designer Ellis Tillman, Lighting Designer Patrick Tennent and Sound Designer Alexander Herrin.

Preview performances of The Last Five Years will be held Wednesday and Thursday, December 5 and 6 at 8 p.m. The show will open on Friday, December 7 at 8 p.m. and play through December 30, 2012. Evening performances will be held Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m., with afternoon matinees on Sunday at 2 p.m. A special weekday matinee is scheduled on Wednesday, December 12 at 2 p.m.

Preview night tickets on the first Wednesday and Thursday are $35. Tickets for weeknights and matinees are $40, and on Friday and Saturday evenings $48. The theatre offers a 10 percent senior discount rate the day of performance and $15 student rush tickets 15 minutes prior to curtain with identification. Discounts are based on availability and exclude Saturday and Sunday.

Group discounted rates are offered for 15 or more through our group sales department. Single tickets may be purchased through the box office at 305-444-9293 or online at www.actorsplayhouse.org.