Theatre review
Just in time
It features 2 hours and 20 minutes, one break. A circle at Square Theater at 235 West 50th Street.
The crooner of the 1950s and 60s, a musical about Bobby Dallin’s too-short life, turned out to be one of the most mysterious things of the season, having scored a string of hits before dying Young at the age of 37.
He wasn’t Michael Jackson or Tina Turner. And while Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons came right after him, their show “The Jersey Boys” feels like a Broadway in a bygone era.
But director Alex Timbers and his irrepressible star, Jonathan Groff, made magic in “Just in Time.”
It’s not as far as this stunning dream of New York, primarily sided by a harem-born singer, with just over two hours of output and a very rich and rapid fire.
But “just in time” is a wallop of joy. And while it does not alienate and romantically move from Darrin’s mental struggle, the musical is by no means a bleak thing.
What’s amazing is how the show is at once and for all, both a retro and a moment of freshness.
Often, the biographies of musicians on stage are tied and restricted by the same old scene song scene song formula as the impersonation of Twitch-Pompect. They are judged clinically, like Madame Tussauds’ wax replicas.
What Timbers, Groff and Designer’s Derek Mclane does instead is to remind you of the electricity of the recent loud nights at Copacabana.
The audience is located in a gorgeous, imaginary sparkling silver nightclub with multiple stages and a gorgeous band. Groff darts cheerfully around the room, jumping on to the table and dancing with ticket buyers who look like the perfect host. The actor explodes into charisma, sweeping out the statics of Darrin’s classic old radios like “Mac the Knife,” “Dream Lover,” and “Assent the Sea,” with his silky tenor.
Incidentally, Groff is featured as Jonathan Groff.
“I’m Jonathan and I’ll be your Bobby Dallin tonight,” he announces. The actor also funnyly points out that we are actually underground under the “evil thing.”
Self-reference (he even jokes about his well-known spitting habits when he speaks) is not a mountain of Pat’s maniérism, but a wise move by the authors Warren Leit and Isaac Oliver that allow Gloaf to become Darrin with his vibrant essence.
“Bobby wanted nothing more than entertaining,” adds Groff. And he tracks his footsteps incredibly.
Many of “just in time” are great parties. Ditties like “Splish Splash” that young set thinks are a surprise shorter with their parents’ baby talk.
The Timbers, who directed the atmosphere of “Moulin Rouge” and “Love to Lie Here,” brings his unique fun to the material that clearly doesn’t scream. Behold, it is some of the best jobs of his career, something that this stepping into genre, like Buzz Ruhrman and Elvis, needs.
The disrupted life of Darrin behind the scenes is also covered, but not exhausted or exhausted. His relationship with Connie Francis (Gracey Lawrence) was a song he wrote before it became a huge hit, and his rocky marriage to film star Sandra Dee (Erica Henningsen) shows personal fame.
Lawrence – The name sounds like he signed a record deal in 1965, but “Who’s Sorry Now?” And Henningsen has real authority with a more complete emotional arc as her marriage collapses in the public eye.
Bobby also loves his mother, Polly (Michelle Polk) and sister Nina (Emily Burgle), and he loves Spur, and he hides a secret from him that will change his presence for almost a lifetime.
Needless to say, the dark second act is less than the more innocent first.
But just like Hugh Jackman as Peter Allen in “The Boy from Oz,” good music thrives with Groff’s natural effervescent nature and the ability to connect deeply and personally with the audience.
“Happy We Are Together,” which he won Tony last year, was a huge leap in his maturity as an actor. I actually saw him play Bobby at the age of 92 in an early version of this musical. Groff sounded as great as ever, but still there was no gravity and global fatigue in a man who fully knew his time wasn’t short.
Well, they’re now. And how.
Broadway season is over today. One of its most enjoyable shows arrived just in time.
