Jonathan Groff Will Play Bobby Darin in Immersive Musical Just in Time on Broadway

Tony Award winner Jonathan Groff will return to Broadway as the '50s and '60s singer-songwriter Bobby Darin in the world premiere of the new musical Just in Time. The show begins performances at the Circle in the Square Theatre on March 28, 2025, with an official opening set for April 23.

The Circle in the Square will be transformed into an intimate, immersive nightclub for the show, with Groff leading a cast of 16 and a live onstage big band performing Darin's hits including “Beyond the Sea," "Dream Lover," "Mack the Knife" and “Splish Splash.” The show is developed and directed by Tony Award winner Alex Timbers (Moulin Rouge!).

“Bobby Darin was a supernova,” said Groff in a statement. “He blazed his way through every corner of the entertainment industry, but his enormous talent, charisma and pure genius were most on display when he was letting it rip in front of a crowd. This primal passionate love affair he had with the audience was the inspiration for our show's conceit. Alex Timber’s distinctive ability to make going to the theater an unforgettable event and Bobby’s signature musicality and explosive fleeting life make Broadway the perfect place to experience the story and essence of this once-in-a-lifetime talent.”

“Bobby Darin worked across many genres of music, but he was most alive performing in intimate nightclubs,” said Timbers. “And so, it was vital to Jonathan and myself that we stage Just In Time at Circle in the Square. This is where we could build an environmental nightclub setting including a live, onstage big band that will allow the same sort of intimacy and electrifying audience connection that both Bobby and Jonathan are known for.”

Last season, Groff won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical for his performance as Franklin Shepard in Merrily We Roll Along. Other stage credits include Hamilton (Tony nomination), Spring Awakening (Tony nomination) and Little Shop of Horrors. Television and film credits include Mindhunter, The Matrix Resurrections, Frozen and Glee.

Just in Time features a book by Tony Award winner Warren Leight and Isaac Oliver based on an original concept by Ted Chapin, music supervision and arrangements by Andrew Resnick and choreography by Shannon Lewis. The show began life at the 92nd Street Y in 2018 as The Bobby Darin Story, written by Chapin, with Groff bringing Timbers onto the project. Speaking to The New York Times in 2018, Timbers said, "It would be easy to do a hagiography, a scrubbed-clean look at the meteoric rise of a pop sensation who bottoms out in midcareer and then has a resurgence. But I think this will be more ornery and strange and idiosyncratic. As befits Bobby Darin.”

The full cast and creative team is to be announced.