Toowoomba's most well known and loved theatrical couple, Shannon Gralow and Justin Tamblyn, will star in and co-direct a two-person musical about love and relationships. The Last 5 Years by American composer Jason Robert Brown is an intimate window into a couple's doomed marriage, with a twist. The two characters begin their stories at opposing ends of the relationship and travel through events both in reverse and chronological order. The award-winning musical is portrayed soley by the two lovers and almost entirely through song. The Last 5 Years has played internationally to great acclaim, originating in Chicago and spawning further productions off-Broadway in New York, as well as London's West End. In 2014, Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan starred in the film adaptation.

Ms Gralow has been performing on stage since the age of four, and holds a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance. Mr Tamblyn has worked professionally in the performance industry, touring internationally with Raw Metal Dance Company. They first met on the set of the Empire Theatre's production of Mary Poppins: The Broadway Musical in 2015, and the rest, as they say, is history. Their recent credits include lead roles in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and most notably, their acclaimed performances as Galinda/Glinda and Fiyero in the Empire Theatre’s production of Wicked.

The Last 5 Years is part of the Empire Theatres' Homegrown Series and will be playing for four performances in the Empire Theatre Studio from September 28-30 at 7:30pm and October 1 at 4pm.

The entire production crew is local, with Musical Direction by Morgan Chalmers, and Set Design by Angela Ponting, who will be performing her own original cabaret work Smiling at Strangers – also a part of the Empire Theatre’s Homegrown Series.