Brooke Hills Playhouse announces a Playhouse Extra in its 52nd season, “The Last Five Years,” written by Jason Robert Brown, which will run for two nights only, June 30 and July 1, and is rated PG13. Season sponsors are Municipal Mutual Insurance Company and Reasner Funeral Home.
“The Last Five Years” was named one of Time magazine’s ten best shows of 2001. An enormously powerful and intimate musical about two New Yorkers in their twenties who fall in and out of love over the course of five years, the show’s unconventional structure consists of Cathy telling her story backwards while Jamie tells his story chronologically. The two characters only meet once, at their wedding, in the middle of the show.
Featuring a two-person cast, “The Last Five Years” is a great opportunity for actors with both range and stamina. Fitting that description perfectly and completely are Bethany Fernbaugh and Lakin Weaver.
Bethany Fernbaugh of Weirton has been working as a full-time music teacher for 13 years. Her passions include teaching, singing, acting, reading, and traveling. She regularly performs with the Ohio Valley Cloak & Dagger Company and the Pittsburgh-based chamber choir Voces Solis. She has performed on the Playhouse stage in numerous productions, including “Mamma Mia,” “The Full Monty,” and “The Addams Family.” Her favorite role at the Playhouse has been Morticia Addams, where she played opposite her real-life husband, Pete. She is so grateful to bring “The Last Five Years” to life with her musical partner and friend, Lakin Weaver.
Lakin Weaver is a performer, educator, and creative professional from Follansbee. A graduate of West Virginia University, he currently teaches Media Arts courses full-time at St. Clairsville High School and has music directed productions for area high schools and community theaters, many of them at Brooke Hills Playhouse, including “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” “Cabaret,” “The Full Monty,” “The Addams Family,” and others. Most recently, Lakin served as music director for a production of “The Littlest Angel” at Towngate Theater in December 2019.
Accompanying the two talented singers is Roberta Fedoush of Weirton who has graciously played piano at our Playhouse musical productions for decades. She has served as music director, church pianist, soloist, and choir director at Weirton’s First Christian Church and was recently recognized for 25 years of ministry as music director of the church. Fedoush has also appeared as composer and accompanist for the Ohio Valley Cloak & Dagger Company.
Show times for “The Last Five Years” are 8 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday evenings. Ticket prices are $16 for adults and $14 for seniors and students. Playhouse Extra performances are not included in Playhouse season passes. Because of the PG13 rating, no children’s tickets are available.
For more information, please call or text the Playhouse at 304.737.3344.