Stunt casting on Broadway is often defined as casting a celebrity in order to garner attention and publicity. It is a strategic move to draw in fresh audiences, help bring people to new or struggling shows, and at times, to keep a show alive at all. But it can also be the reason that less known actors miss out on roles, ticket prices skyrocket, and musicals feel less authentic. And recently, stunt casting and its “controversy” has become an even more hot topic in the musical theater niche of social media.
“The Last Five Years” began its Broadway debut, a limited 14-week run, in early April, previously only appearing Off-Broadway, on the West End, and on the big screen in a 2014 film adaptation. Yet most notably for some, this production stars pop singer Nick Jonas.
As soon as the first clips of Jonas in the role hit social media, critics were quick to jump on him. Users on TikTok demanded to know why the show would cast “Nick Jonas out of everyone.” One user stated that the casting “helped [them] decide not to go,” even after claiming “The Last Five Years” was their favorite musical.
When the show started previews on March 18, 2025, audiences did not seem any more impressed. One Reddit user noted that Jonas “couldn’t sing the high notes, [and] he cracked twice.” Comments under that post were filled with agreements that he is not “the strongest/most versatile vocalist,” and the differing skill level between him and co-star Adrienne Warren is “distracting.”
Despite this criticism, Jonas is not new to Broadway. He debuted on Broadway in 2001, but his appearances since have been minimal and scattered as he grew as an screen actor and a musician. So while this is a return to Broadway for Jonas, TikTok users still reason that his “speciality is pop,” “he no longer has a Broadway voice,” and he “gets drowned out by people who sing in the theater style.”
When director Whitney White was asked about the reasoning behind the casting, she avoided any traditional stunt casting explanations. Instead, she said, “I just thought to myself, ‘Who is going to bring something very new to this sound? I would like to hear the music sung in a way I’ve never heard it before as a superfan’… They are both powerhouse performers and they just bring that power to the stage.”
Whether Jonas is living up to that claim is subjective, with others praising the talent he brought to the stage. Some Reddit users argued that while he may not be the best singer, he has “a lot of charisma,” or even that he was “really good,” and they “walked out a fan.”
Though for many musical theater fans, the controversy stems less from Jonas’ in specific, and more from the larger question of stunt casting: was there someone more worthy of the role? Users on Reddit felt there should have been a “proper actor” in the role, often comparing Jonas to Jeremy Jordan, the actor and Broadway performer who portrayed the same role in the film.
Many argue that this selection of a celebrity over a seasoned Broadway talent or a striving up-and-comer is the true issue with stunt casting. With some rather mediocre and forgettable stunt casting performances, like Billy Ray Cyrus or Wendy Williams in “Chicago,” Cameron Dallas in “Mean Girls,” Ricky Martin in “Evita,” or as some argue, Nick Jonas in “The Last Five Years,” it feels like it should be in the best interest of the show to actually cast more towards talent than a celebrity name.
It is no secret that a Broadway show is built on so much more than the ability to sing well or act well; it is the ability to do both seamlessly, creating a story for the audience to latch on to. Not every movie star or pop singer can achieve that balance, despite how talented they may be. And while sometimes you get lucky with a stunt cast—Reba McEntire in “Annie Get Your Gun” or Charli D’Amelio in “& Juliet”—it is not always worth risking a show’s integrity.
You may gain new, excited audiences, but you could also lose a dedicated, seasoned fanbase. While Nick Jonas fans may flock to see “The Last Five Years,” fans of “The Last Five Years” may avoid the new production and Jonas’ performance. That is simply the risk of stunt casting.
