The Last Five Years is one of the best musicals of the last two decades, so why has it never actually been produced on Broadway?

Jason Robert Brown's musical masterpiece was first produced in Chicago in 2001. It moved Off-Broadway a year later and enjoyed positive reviews and a massive following. Over the years, it received a film adaptation starring Jeremy Jordan and Anna Kendrick and a 2013 Off-Broadway revival.

The musical tells the story of the relationship between Jamie (a successful writer) and Cathy (a struggling actress). However, the story is told unconvientoially.

Jamie's story is told from the beginning of the relationship to the end, while Cathy's is told from the end to the beginning. The musical opens when Cathy is reading the letter Jamie left revealing he wants a divorce. The two characters sing solos that alternate and share the same scene only in the middle (when they get married) and the end of the show (when Cathy meets Jamie for the first time and when Jamie leaves for the last time).

The plot can be extremely hard to follow, but overall the show tells a powerful story that needs to be heard.