Jonathan Groff Sets 2025 Broadway Return with JUST IN TIME?

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 7/12/24 at 2:01pm

Added a question mark, although Philip Boroff always has very reliable info.

Broadway Journal

"Newly minted Tony Award winner Jonathan Groff will play the 1950s and ’60s crooner Bobby Darin in a staged reading next month, ahead of a planned Broadway opening in spring 2025, people familiar with the musical said.

The reading of Just in Time  will be directed by Alex Timbers (Moulin Rouge!).  On Broadway, Tom Kirdahy and Robert Ahrens are set to produce the show, which tells the story of the short but eventful life of the popular performer, whose hits included “Mack the Knife,” “Dream Lover” and “Just in Time.”"

Updated On: 7/12/24 at 02:01 PM

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 7/12/24 at 2:10pm

I’m gonna need a croon-off between Groff, Dez Duron, and Ainsley Melham sometime this season. 

Swoon. 

[steve.sometime]

Posted: 7/12/24 at 2:46pm

He did a concert of Bobby Darin songs at 92Y a few years back. I had wondered if that was meant for something more. 

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 7/12/24 at 3:50pm

I don’t recall him being in the last reading, so this is exciting! 

[Kad]

Posted: 7/12/24 at 4:03pm

Alex Timbers is certainly a surprising director choice for a project like this.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 7/12/24 at 4:20pm

Did anyone see the concert production in 2018? How big were the other parts? It looks like it was only a cast of 5, and thats including Groff. Always love seeing Elena Shadows name on cast lists, so hopefully she’s still involved!

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 7/12/24 at 4:25pm

Who wrote the book for this?

Even with Groff and Timbers this REALLY feels like a “who’s this for” musical unless they’re going to do something incredibly interesting narratively.

Darin himself doesn’t bring in an audience in the way that the Sinatra name & songbook does. The interesting hook is his surprise death at 37, which is really more of a “what could have been” situation.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/12/24 at 4:36pm

Bobby Darin was born with a heart ailment so since childhood he had the urgency of achieving things as he was aware his entire life that his time was limited. He also married Hollywood darling Sandra Dee and they made several films together as well as had a son. 

[DCS]

Posted: 7/12/24 at 5:03pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Who wrote the book for this?

Even with Groff and Timbers this REALLY feels like a “who’s this for” musical unless they’re going to do something incredibly interesting narratively.

Darin himself doesn’t bring in an audience in the way that the Sinatra name & songbook does. The interesting hook is his surprise death at 37, which is really more of a “what could have been” situation."

Ted Chapin is writing the book for this musical.

 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/12/24 at 5:10pm

As soon as the spring??  Wasn't expecting that! 

[MezzA101]

Posted: 7/12/24 at 6:20pm

Jonathan Groff Is Broadway-Bound In Bobby Darin Bio-Musical

 

https://deadline.com/2024/07/jonathan-groff-bobby-darin-broadway-musical-1236008782/

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 7/12/24 at 6:25pm

No out of town tryout? Thats a mistake 

[HenryTDobson]

Posted: 7/12/24 at 7:22pm

Broadway Flash said: "No out of town tryout? Thats a mistake"

When do you go back to school?

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 7/12/24 at 9:39pm

Call_me_jorge said: "Did anyone see the concert production in 2018? How big were the other parts? It looks like it was only a cast of 5, and thats including Groff. Always love seeing Elena Shadows name on cast lists, so hopefully she’s still involved!"

Yes, I saw it. It was different from the typical 92Y L&L lecture but the cast spoke directly to the audience between songs giving that background information on Darin. I have to imagine they developed it into something more dynamic (though it was an enjoyable concert).

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 7/12/24 at 9:45pm

The concert also included George Salazar, Stephanie Styles, David Pittu, and Elena Shaddow. Curious to see if any of them continue with the production. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 7/12/24 at 10:13pm

Broadway Flash said: "No out of town tryout? Thats a mistake"

Where was this confirmed to have no OOT prior to Broadway?

Signature Theatre (the one in DC) is producing this reading, so perhaps we see it on their 25-26 season.

If Ted Chapin is indeed the sole bookwriter that is......interesting.

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 7/12/24 at 10:38pm

The article is saying Spring 2025.  Obviously nothings confirmed, but if the rumors are true

[Springtime]

Posted: 7/13/24 at 3:41am

None of the original cast members were in the reading presentation on 15 March 2024, held after a couple of weeks of rehearsals.
 
Cast members included Emily Bergl, Elizabeth Teeter, Michele Pawk and Joe Barbara. Emily and Elizabeth posted photos on their Instagram pages. 

Updated On: 7/13/24 at 03:41 AM

[Dreamboy3]

Posted: 7/13/24 at 8:20am

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Who wrote the book for this?

Even with Groff and Timbers this REALLY feels like a “who’s this for” musical unless they’re going to do something incredibly interesting narratively.

Darin himself doesn’t bring in an audience in the way that the Sinatra name & songbook does. The interesting hook is his surprise death at 37, which is really more of a “what could have been” situation."

Incredibly Interesting Narratively and Alex Timbers are mutually exclusive. Unless by Incredibly Interesting Narratvely means Narratively Incoherent. 

Updated On: 7/14/24 at 08:20 AM

[darquegk]

Posted: 7/13/24 at 1:47pm

VintageSnarker said: "Call_me_jorge said: "Did anyone see the concert production in 2018? How big were the other parts? It looks like it was only a cast of 5, and thats including Groff. Always love seeing Elena Shadows name on cast lists, so hopefully she’s still involved!"

Yes, I saw it. It was different from the typical 92Y L&L lecture but the cast spoke directly to the audience between songs giving that background information on Darin. I have to imagine they developed it into something more dynamic (though it was an enjoyable concert)."

Ring of Fire, the Johnny Cash musical revue, went through three revisions. In the first, all of the ensemblists claimed to be Johnny Cash, and told stories about his life in the first person. In the second, it was reversed: the AUDIENCE was Johnny Cash, and the ensemblists told stories in the second person about the things "you" have done. The third version, which I think is the licensing one, drops the cutesy conceit entirely, and just has the ensemblists swapping stories ABOUT Johnny Cash, in the third person.

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 7/13/24 at 9:48pm

Bobby Darin was a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and Oscar-nominated actor, whose heyday was the late '50s and '60s, and what a life he led!

And Darin dared to sing in all styles: pop, rock 'n' roll, jazz, country and folk. Elvis was a friend who'd sneak into Darin's shows to watch him perform.

Darin took showtunes, like ''Mack the Knife'' (from ''The Threepenny Opera'' ) and ''Artificial Flowers'' (from ''Tenderloin'' ), and turned them into hits.

Other Darin classics include: ''Beyond the Sea,'' ''Dream Lover'' and ''Splish Splash,'' and I can't wait to hear Jonathan Groff tackle them all with gusto.

Groff told the N.Y. Times: ''I went on YouTube ... & watched all [his] TV performances, and I was blown away by his versatility. ... His life was insane.''

Darin's life was haunted by poor health and a weak heart, so he knew he would die young (as it turned out, only 37). And his  world was rocked by family secrets: At 32, he learned that the woman who was his mother was actually his grandmother, and that his sister was actually Darin's mother.

Nostalgia will bring in the older audiences, but Groff's popularity will bring in the younger ones, and I bet he'll introduce Bobby to them with glee.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=557lFG-qq5g

Updated On: 7/13/24 at 09:48 PM

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/14/24 at 8:18am

THIS is the Bobby Darin I prefer - his night club performer style: 

 

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 7/14/24 at 10:45pm

Let’s be clear. Bobby Darrin is more nostalgic than actually influential in the industry. That’s fine, a good story is a good story. But if the story is “died young, married Connie Francis” im not sure what actual story there is to tell. 

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 7/15/24 at 12:07am

''Let’s be clear. Bobby Darrin is more nostalgic than actually influential in the industry. ... But if the story is “died young, married Connie Francis” im not sure what actual story there is to tell.''

Until ''Just in Time'' starts previews, no one here knows what the ''actual story'' will be told. Perhaps if you saw the earlier show at the 92nd Street Y, you might have an idea, but that was in 2018, and who's to say that Ted Chapin's  script hasn't changed since then? Finally, if you think Darin's life can be just dismissed as ''died young, married Connie Francis,'' and have no respect for this musical legend  who's in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award,  at least have the common courtesy to spell Darin's last name correctly.

Updated On: 7/15/24 at 12:07 AM

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/15/24 at 5:19am

Or do some fact checking as he married actress Sandra Dee not Connie Francis.