How it’s New York: Bobby Darin was from the Bronx, and much of the play takes place in NYC; the Copacabana club, formerly of E. 60th St., is a large part of the story.
How it’s Irish: Connie Francis famously recorded Connie Francis Sings Irish Favorites (1962), Jonathan Groff (“Hamilton”) has some English/Scottish ancestry, and Darin spent a spell working in London.
JUST IN TIME is just a really good time.
Come in knowing nothing about Darin but a few of his hits: leave with respect and even awe.
Darin’s life story is a true rags‑to‑riches with plenty of obstacles along the way. He died at just 37, but left a rich legacy.
This particular show has been kicking around a little while: it’s based on an original concept by Ted Chapin, with book by Warren Leight (Side Man, Law & Order: SVU) and Isaac Oliver (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel). Music? Well, the songs are mostly by Darin himself. Unlike a lot of nightclub performers, he wrote songs too. (Splish Splash; Dream Lover; covers of Beyond the Sea and Mack the Knife).
He was a sickly child, born Walden Robert Cassotto in East Harlem (Manhattan) in 1936 but grew up in the South Bronx. Rheumatic fever weakened his heart, and he died very young. You would not expect him to grow up to be a song‑and‑dance man with all the pressure that entails.
But with a crooner mom, who used to sing him Italian songs (glamorous Michelle Pawk), he made good on his dream to star at the Copa (the Copacabana Nightclub in Manhattan).
Jonathan Groff takes an amazing star turn as Darin, dancing, singing, and sweating up a storm (he warns us of this last, so if you’re lucky enough to get floor‑show cabaret seats, be warned). He’s backed up by a trio of lovely singer/dancers referred to as Sirens, who also play other small roles (Christine Cornish, Julia Grondin, Valerie Yamin). One of the dances (clever and stylish choreography by Shannon Lewis) has become a TikTok challenge. Well, it deserves it.
Circle in the Square Theatre, the downstairs stage under Wicked, has been transformed into a nightclub by scenic designer Derek McLane. It’s got silver mylar, dark blue, cabaret tables. It’s magical.
Groff first arrives, in a platform that emerges from beneath the sage, as himself, telling us, “I’ll be your Bobby Darin tonight.” This is not only funny; it also sets the tone for a nightclub act: cheeky, direct address. Groff is perfection in this role: you might know he can Broadway belt, but did you know he can croon?
We see young Bobby fall in love with young Connie Francis (beautiful singer Gracie Lawrence, such a dead ringer for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s Rachel Brosnahan that I did a double take), get his heart broken, have a hit song, get tired of his persona, make it to the Copa—meet and marry Sandra Dee (a winning Erika Henningsen) and more.
For a time, Darin decamped to London, making a film and performing abroad, before
returning to the U.S. in the turbulent late ’60s. Shaken by the assassinations of RFK and MLK, he threw himself into activism, writing protest songs and even living in a Big Sur trailer for a while. (If you’re confused when he sings “If I Were a Carpenter”: he had a hit with this song, though he did not write it.)
The show nods to that chapter, but like Darin himself, we eventually end up back at the Copa—where his heart, and ours, truly belong.
Yes, it’s sort of an “And then I wrote” structure, but it’s touching, too. Darin’s life, from 1936 to 1973, as the country veers from the glitz of the 50s to the anger of the 60s and beyond, is such a quintessentially American tale. Neither Darin nor the show shied from that.
Director Alex Timbers, who also developed the show, does a wonderful job of keeping action seamless so the show never feels episodic, and the orchestral arrangements by Andrew Resnick will have you swaying (great band!).
But then, he came back to the Copa. We knew he would.
We’re sitting in the club, after all.
Bobby Darin’s nightclub act was not just an act: when he gave his all to the audience, he was the real thing. So is the show.
JUST IN TIME is at Circle in the Square, 235 W. 50th St.
