OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen Pictured is Gowanda’s Historic Hollywood Theater, located at 39 West Main Street in Gowanda. The Hollywood Theater will host “The Last Five Years”, a Broadway hit musical, each of the next two weekends.

GOWANDA — An elite musical experience is coming to Gowanda’s Historic Hollywood Theater for the next two weekends. The Hollywood Theater will be hosting a professional production of the 90-minute Broadway hit musical, “The Last Five Years,” composed by Jason Robert Brown.

Each of the next two weekends will feature Saturday night performances at 7 p.m., followed by Sunday matinee shows at 2 p.m., concluding on Sunday, July 26. Tickets for all attendees are $5 and are available online and at the door.

The production brings accessible, professional-caliber entertainment – typically reserved for major metropolitan stages – the Western New York and Southern Tier communities. It also showcases exceptional local talent returning to their roots in Western New York, including Kimberly Merrill, a Gowanda High School alumna and two-time graduate of the prestigious Eastman School of Music, and Brandon Mecklenburg, a Hamburg High School graduate with formal training in voice performance from SUNY Fredonia and Florida State University. Actor performances are elevated by a live pit orchestra led by Jim Welch, who brings direct experience working on the show with composer Jason Robert Brown.

The production is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrant program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes.

Gowanda’s Historic Hollywood Theater, located at 39 W. Main St., is a centerpiece of the Western New York arts scene. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The production gives guests a chance to witness the ongoing restoration of the Hollywood Theater.

The production is another example of the theater’s commitment to bringing world-class arts experiences to the Greater Western New York region at an accessible cost. For more information, visit gowandahollywoodtheater.com