JUST IN TIME Reviews

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/26/25 at 6:36pm

Feldman says 10pm embargo lift.

Post ‘em all here, Dream Lovers. :)

[Penna2]

Posted: 4/26/25 at 7:50pm

Just posting to get the notices.

Updated On: 4/26/25 at 07:50 PM

[choircatdog1]

Posted: 4/26/25 at 10:05pm

Penna2 said: "Just posting to get the notices."

NYT Mixed

http://archive.today/2025.04.27-020032/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/26/theater/just-in-time-review-darin-groff.html

[MezzA101]

Posted: 4/26/25 at 10:10pm

‘Just in Time’ Review: Jonathan Groff Channels Bobby Darin

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/26/theater/just-in-time-review-darin-groff.html?unlocked_article_code=1.C08.I4rG.5j0e1SqBKEO0&smid=nytcore-android-share

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/26/25 at 10:43pm

Deadline

‘Just In Time’ Broadway Review: Jonathan Groff Plays Bobby Darin – And Two Stars Ignite

https://deadline.com/2025/04/just-in-time-broadway-review-jonathan-groff-1236377062/

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/26/25 at 10:47pm

Vulture.com

Just in Time Will Teach You a Little About Bobby Darin and a Lot About Jonathan Groff

https://www.vulture.com/article/theater-review-jonathan-groff-bobby-darin-in-just-in-time.html

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/26/25 at 10:48pm

TimeOut

Just in Time

4 out of 5 stars

A biomusical of Bobby Darin comes alive.

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/just-in-time-broadway-review-bobby-darin-jonathan-groff

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/26/25 at 10:50pm

The Wrap

‘Just in Time’ Broadway Review: Jonathan Groff Is Great! But Where’s Bobby Darin?

The Tony-winning star of “Merrily We Roll Along” rarely meets the playboy crooner of “Mack the Knife”

https://www.thewrap.com/just-in-time-broadway-review-jonathan-groff/

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/26/25 at 10:51pm

Variety

‘Just in Time’ Review: Jonathan Groff Plays Bobby Darin in a Lackluster Bio-Jukebox on Broadway

 

https://variety.com/2025/legit/reviews/just-in-time-review-jonathan-groff-broadway-musical-1236379177/

[DramaTeach]

Posted: 4/26/25 at 10:57pm

Entertainment Weekly: “Irresistible” https://ew.com/just-in-time-review-jonathan-groff-irresistible-bobby-darin-11721853

Updated On: 4/26/25 at 10:57 PM

[DramaTeach]

Posted: 4/26/25 at 11:01pm

These are pretty much what I expected. Many mixed on the delivery of the biography but captivated by its lead. Even NY Times says it’s one of the year’s best performances. Groff really is a theater gem, and I think this is his “I have my Tony, I just love being on stage, and I’m in charge now” moment.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 4/26/25 at 11:07pm

DTLI Consensus: Breaking the bio-jukebox mold, Just in Time — led by an effervescent Jonathan Groff — is one of the sheer delights of the Broadway season. 

13 positive, 4 mixed (including the NYT), 1 negative.

https://didtheylikeit.com/shows/just-in-time/

[Markie27]

Posted: 4/26/25 at 11:32pm

EDSOSLO858 said: "DTLI Consensus:Breaking the bio-jukebox mold,Just in Time— led by an effervescent Jonathan Groff — is one of the sheer delights of the Broadway season.

13 positive, 4 mixed (including the NYT), 1 negative.

https://didtheylikeit.com/shows/just-in-time/"


Wow!  This jumped to second place in the tally board for most Positive shows of the season after Maybe Happy Ending who is still the only musical (or any show for that matter) of the season that has a complete across the board rave.  I wonder how Dead Outlaw would place after opening. So far we have:

NEW MUSICAL                    P - M - N 
Maybe Happy Ending          14 - 0 - 0

Just in Time                       13 - 4 - 1

Operation Mincemeat          13 - 2 - 2

Buena Vista Social Club       11 - 5 - 0

Old Friends                         10 - 6 - 2

 

WEIGHTED AVERAGE AS PER BBW

1. Maybe Happy Ending 89.2%

2. Buena Vista Social Club 86.10%

3. Death Becomes Her 80.5%

4. Operation Mincemeat 77.8%

5. Old Friends 73.1%

 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/27/25 at 12:19am

Sorry I stopped posting the reviews. There were more, but I was doing it on the train on my way home (from a show, of course), stopped when I knew I wouldn't have a signal between stations, and then forgot. More (including the NYP's surprising 4 star review) at BWW's roundup:

 

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Review-Roundup-JUST-IN-TIME-Opens-on-Broadway-Starring-Jonathan-Groff-20250426

[Penna2]

Posted: 4/27/25 at 1:16am

I found it interesting how many of the reviews dismissed Darin as a has been (he actually had a successful TV show and was set to open the MGM Grand in Las Vegas at the time of his death), yet, here all those reviewers are at a show, one of two in ten years, not to mention a film 20 years ago, plus a number of books (the one by his son Dodd being the best) about him. Even Sinatra and Dean Martin can't claim that. I would be willing to bet there will be no such honoraria for Jonathan Groff 50 years from now.

The reviews revealed what sounds like the writers left out a lot - I understand that much had to be eliminated/streamlined. For example, while he and Dee were divorced, they remained close, particularly after he found out about her childhood abuse and her therapy. They were actually working on reconciling before he died. Also, the fact that he adored his son - probably his best relationship. There actually could have been some sort of happy ending instead of leaving it with the idea of him being unfilled and forgotten. He may have, in fact, deliberately brought about his death. Leaving when everything was on a positive note. Because of his rheumatic heart disease, before having dental work, he was supposed to take antibiotics. For his last appointment, he didn't take them, nor did he take his heart medication (according to Dodd's book). Not taking the medication caused him to develop a sepsis infection that went to his heart. Darin was a smart man, and he had to know this would happen. The heart surgery he had a couple of years earlier which had been successful had been destroyed. A complicated man. 

That said, it does sound like Groff puts on a great show and deserves the plaudits he receives, I'm just sad that the show was lacking in the book.

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 4/27/25 at 2:01am

''That said, it does sound like Groff puts on a great show and deserves the plaudits he receives, I'm just sad that the show was lacking in the book.''

And I'm just sad that some people are compelled to comment or pass judgment on a show they haven't even seen. If you catch ''Just in Time'' and it doesn't meet your expectations, fine. That's fair. For the record, I think Warren Leight and Isaac Oliver's book does a savvy and shrewd job of covering what they can in 2 hours. Groff says they're gonna tell Darin's story as ''fast and as furiously'' as he lived it. I was totally entertained, engaged and moved by the end, not just by Groff's showmanship, but by their shared love of live performance. And thanks to Groff, ''Just in Time'' isn't just a deep dive into nostalgia for his older fans, but an exciting introduction to a new younger generation that never knew his work and now know why Darin's music matters.. 

Updated On: 4/27/25 at 02:01 AM

[Auggie27]

Posted: 4/27/25 at 10:46am

It's another show this season not dependent on reviews, clearly, but here's a question: will it have an afterlife like, say, Beautiful? It's seemingly a Branson-ready entertainment; plug in a singing actor and you have a boomer audience ready for the nostalgia trip. Once it's handed off to someone else, will the beginning be revised for any actor who plays it? Or will the publisher/licensing agent just slice off the prelude and coda?

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 4/27/25 at 10:50am

Auggie27 said: "It's another show this season not dependent on reviews, clearly, but here's a question: will it have an afterlife like, say, Beautiful? It's seemingly a Branson-ready entertainment; plug in a singing actor and you have a boomer audience ready for the nostalgia trip. Once it's handed off to someone else, will the beginning be revised for any actor who plays it? Or will the publisher/licensing agent just slice off the prelude and coda?"

This definitely feels like a show that will be playing at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre within ten years. I imagine the prelude/coda will be considered optional, or will be adjusted for licensing.

[Owen22]

Posted: 4/27/25 at 11:23am

EDSOSLO858 said: "DTLI Consensus:Breaking the bio-jukebox mold,Just in Time— led by an effervescent Jonathan Groff — is one of the sheer delights of the Broadway season.

13 positive, 4 mixed (including the NYT), 1 negative.

https://didtheylikeit.com/shows/just-in-time/"

That Vulture review was definitely way more mixed than positive!  Maybe they were just relieved Sara Holdren wasn't reviewing as she would have eviscerated the show...

[1 Minute Critic]

Posted: 4/27/25 at 11:25am

Loved it. Forget what you think about biomusicals: Jonathan Groff changes the game ‘Just in Time’ - review here

[SteveSanders]

Posted: 4/27/25 at 12:54pm

I must have seen a very different show given these dismissive dinner theater comments.  What I experienced was a highly polished and highly entertaining production that hit on some key moments in the life of an artist I barely knew anything about. 

Reading comments here, I understand some people feel the book shortchanged Darin's story and that seems like a very valid criticism, albeit one many bio-musicals seem to handle.

But not just anybody could pull off what Groff is doing in this show at the level of his performance.

[Ensemble1698878795]

Posted: 4/27/25 at 1:32pm

1 Minute Critic said: "Loved it.Forget what you think about biomusicals: Jonathan Groff changes the game ‘Just in Time’ - reviewhere"

It’s certainly feeling like Groff may win his second consecutive Tony. In comparison to others he carries this show and is hella charming. 

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 4/27/25 at 11:27pm

On ''CBS Sunday Morning,'' Mo Rocha does a wonderful interview with Dodd Darin, 63, the son of Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee, and author of ''Dream Lovers,'' his memoir about them.

People related to his music, Dodd says, but adds ''he was a funny cat.'' Dodd says there were better-sounding and better-looking singers than his father, who was insecure about his hair and had ''the worst hairpieces in the history of showbiz.'' But ''in a nightclub, he was magic. He had charisma.''

Rocha also marvels at how Darin took ''Mack the Knife,'' a gloomy dirge from Brecht and Weill's ''Threepenny Opera'' and turned it into a Grammy-winning hit. (Dick Clark warned him not to release it, predicting it would bomb. But Sinatra credited Darin with its success and how it went through 5 key changes.)

Most movingly, Dodd recalls the last time he saw his father hold sway on a Las Vegas stage, and the very last time he heard from him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBsVdmgyg_c

Updated On: 4/27/25 at 11:27 PM

[Penna2]

Posted: 4/27/25 at 11:48pm

Wayman_Wong said: "On ''CBS Sunday Morning,'' Mo Rocha does a wonderful interview with Dodd Darin, 63, the son of Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee, and author of ''Dream Lovers,'' his memoir about them.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBsVdmgyg_c"

I saw this today as well - did you happen to see this part of the CBS show with Bobby Darin performing? Dodd's interview is included here as well.

CBS - The Life of Teen Idol Bobby Darin

[DrMonicaDeMoneco]

Posted: 4/27/25 at 11:58pm

Open.. and close right after the Tony’s