Editorial note: Spoilers for “The Last Five Years”
When it was announced last June that Nick Jonas would play Jewish writer Jamie Wellerstein in “The Last Five Years” on Broadway, my immediate thought was: Oh no, he’s going to sing “Shiksa Goddess.”
For those unaware, “The Last Five Years” tells the story of how Jamie and a struggling actress named Cathy Hiatt meet, fall in love, get married and ultimately get divorced. The musical features two separate timelines, however. Cathy’s timeline begins with the divorce and moves backward so that at the end of the show she has just met Jamie. Jamie’s timeline begins with him meeting Cathy, singing about how thrilled he is to be in love with a non-Jewish woman in “Shiksa Goddess,” and ends with him cheating on her and divorcing her. “The Last Five Years” was written by Jewish composer Jason Robert Brown and is based lightly on his own life. The show first premiered in 2001, though this is the first time it’s being performed on Broadway.
Well, the moment of Nick Jonas singing “Shiksa Goddess” has arrived. “The Last Five Years” is currently in previews at The Hudson Theatre and some bootlegs of Nick Jonas’ performance, including him singing “Shiksa Goddess,” are starting to pop up online.
Exhibit A:
@onehandonmycamera2 so happy to finally see this show have it’s moment on broadway ❤️ nick jonas: the last five years (broadway) details for the full show video are on my tumblr! onehandonmycamera.tumblr.com #musicalbootlegs #broadwaybootleg #slimetutorial #broadway #musical #theatre #broadwaymusicals #broadwaytiktok #broadwaymusical #broadwaytok #broadwayshow #theatretiktok #theatretok #thelastfiveyears #thelast5years #thelastfiveyearsmusical #nickjonas #nickjonasedit #jonasbrothers #jonasbrothersfan #jonasbrothersbroadway
Exhibit B:
@ril3yheller Shiksa Goddess – Nick Jonas (2nd preview 3/19/25) *not my audio for legal reasons* #L5Y #lastfiveyears #nickjonas #adriennewarren #shiksagoddess #jasonrobertbrown
Here’s the thing: I don’t hate it. Unlike the preview video of Nick Jonas singing “Moving Too Fast” which was… tough, “Shiksa Goddess” is in his wheelhouse and it sounds like he’s having fun singing it. “Shiksa Goddess” is also a solo, so it doesn’t pose the problem evident on “The Tonight Show” when Nick sang a duet from the show with co-star Adrienne Warren that, essentially, she’s Barbie and he’s just there. More generally, the recording also reveals that Jason Robert Brown cut some transphobic lyrics from the song, which I think was wise.
That said, as much as I think Nick sounds good in “Shiksa Goddess,” I still don’t believe him as a “Hebrew slave” having had “Shabbos dinners on Friday nights with every Shapiro in Washington Heights” — which is a larger issue. Sorry!! I know that I, a viewer, am supposed to let the actor melt into the character and not judge an actor’s performance based on who they are. But when the Jonas Brothers spent nearly 10 years in the mid-2000s and early 2010s branding themselves as an All-American, purity-ring wearing boy band, I don’t think it’s my fault that I don’t find Nick Jonas to be a believable Jew. As one commenter said on the top video, “Obsessed with Broadway casting Nick Jonas as a Jewish man & they were like ‘how can we make him look Jewish… GLASSES.'”
My feelings remain the same with “The Schmuel Song,” in which Jamie tells Cathy an Isaac Bashevis Singer-like story he wrote about a Jewish tailor named Schmuel living on a shtetl. Nick sounds good! He’s solidly within his vocal range, his voice is warm and deeply emotive. But, Nick doesn’t really attempt a Yiddish accent for the parts where he’s singing as Schmuel like Jewish actor Jeremy Jordan does beautifully in “The Last Five Years” movie, and for that, I am grateful.
But of course, these songs on their own do not paint a full picture of Nick Jonas in “The Last Five Years.” This is the part where I tell you, and remind myself, that in order to fully judge Nick’s performance as Jamie Wellerstein (and bask in the glory that is Adrienne Warren), you have to actually see the show.
“The Last Five Years” is playing at The Hudson Theatre through June 22.
