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[title]There’s a moment in the first act of Just in Time when you stop thinking about the fact that you’re at a Broadway show and start wondering if you’ve accidentally wandered into the greatest nightclub in New York City… which is kind of the whole point.
The show, which charts the rise of Bobby Darin from scrappy Bronx kid to bona fide superstar, has been one of Broadway’s most reliably joyful nights out since it opened. Jonathan Groff originated the role, followed by Matthew Morrison, both to considerable acclaim. But now Jeremy Jordan is donning Darin’s sharkskin suit, and if anything, the show has found another gear entirely.
Jordan—a two-time Tony nominee, known to musical theater devotees for Newsies, Floyd Collins and The Great Gatsby—is the kind of performer who makes a room feel bigger and smaller at the same time. Bigger, because he fills it completely. Smaller, because he makes it feel like he’s singing directly to you. It’s a rare trick, and in the cabaret-style configuration of Just in Time, it lands with force.
And the room itself is half the experience. Forget the traditional Broadway setup. There’s no proscenium here, and no sense of something happening behind a curtain. Circle in the Square has been transformed into a swanky, low-lit nightclub with cabaret table seating that puts audiences inside the action rather than in front of it. The whole thing feels less like attending a musical and more like being let through the velvet ropes into the most exclusive after-hours lounge in the city.
Alongside Jordan is Isa Briones, who fans of “The Pitt” on HBO Max will recognize immediately, and who turns out to be every bit as compelling on a Broadway stage as she is on screen. Together, they anchor a cast of first-rate performers backed by a large combo band producing the kind of brass-heavy, swinging sound that makes you feel, viscerally, like you’ve slipped back into an era that oozed cool.
And then there’s the catalog. “Splish Splash.” “Dream Lover.” “Beyond the Sea.” “Mack the Knife.” Hearing these songs performed live in a setting that feels this authentic, by vocalists this good and a band this tight, is a reminder that great songs don’t age; they just wait for the right performance. Don’t just take our word for it (although why wouldn’t you). Listen to Jordan do exactly that with “Dream Lover.” And, it doesn’t matter if you’ve been a Bobby Darin devotee since 1962 or if you’re coming in fresh, the music is universal, and the show is built to bring joy to everyone.
Just in Time sidesteps the usual formula. It’s not a dutiful march through a famous life, ticking boxes and hitting plot points on cue. It’s more alive than that, more electric. It captures something of what made Darin magnetic: the hunger, the charm, the sheer force of a performer who needed to be the best.
With Jeremy Jordan, the show has someone who understands that impulse completely and is willing to share it with all of us.
Just in Time is playing at Circle in the Square, 235 West 50th St. Get tickets before Jordan’s run sells out. And it will.
