Cynthia Erivo & Joshua Henry Set for The Last Five Years Benefit Concert; Jason Robert Brown Will Direct

Two Broadway powerhouses are set to bring The Last Five Years back to New York. The Color Purple Tony winner Cynthia Erivo and Tony nominee (and soon-to-be Chicago’s Hamilton star) Joshua Henry will take part in a one-night-only concert presentation of Jason Robert Brown’s musical on September 12. Proceeds will go to the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

Brown will direct the event, which is set to take place at Town Hall. This is the first production to his knowledge to feature two black performers in the two-hander, according to the New York Times. In a statement, the composer said, "To have such amazing artists bring my work to life is thrilling enough, but to be using this performance to benefit the invaluable and desperately important work of the Brady Center is a particular honor."

The Color Purple marked Erivo’s Broadway debut. She has appeared on the U.K. stage in Henry IV, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Sister Act, I Can’t Sing and Dessa Rose. She also starred in a London revival of Brown’s Songs for a New World.

Joshua Henry last took the stage on Broadway in Shuffle Along. He earned Tony nominations for his performances in Violet and The Scottsboro Boys and has also appeared on Broadway in Bring It On, Porgy and Bess, American Idiot and In the Heights. This fall, he takes on the role of Aaron Burr in the Chicago engagement of Hamliton.

Brown’s The Last Five Years chronicles the rise and fall of successful author Jamie and aspiring actress Cathy’s five-year relationship. Cathy tells the story starting with their divorce and looks back, while Jamie’s timeline begins with their beginning stages. The show premiered off-Broadway in 2002; a film adaptation starring Jeremy Jordan and Anna Kendrick premiered in 2015.

To hold you over until September 12, check out Erivo knocking the show’s belty anthem “I Can Do Better Than That” out of the park at the piano bar Marie’s Crisis below!