A “Beautiful Gateway Drug” to Bobby Darin: Jonathan Groff and Cast Talk Bringing “Grit” to the “Just in Time” Broadway Cast Recording

Jonathan Groff likens embodying Bobby Darin to a long-term relationship — a constant process of discovery and recommitment. His admiration for Darin, who lived intensely in his brief 37 years, has only deepened as he inhabits the role.

Fresh from his 2024 Tony win for Merrily We Roll Along, Groff returned to Broadway in April to play the mercurial singer behind classics such as “Mack the Knife,” “Beyond the Sea” and “Dream Lover.” The production has been staged at Circle in the Square for roughly six months, but its origins stretch back to 2017, when Groff first felt a strong, instinctive connection to Darin’s show-business sensibility.

There are clear parallels between the two performers: both are steeped in the Great American Songbook and both found early mainstream attention singing lighter pop to young audiences — Groff on television, Darin with chart-topping singles — before revealing deeper artistic range. And both routinely draw audiences that span generations, from teenagers to those who remember Darin’s heyday.

As a songwriter and interpreter, Darin’s catalog demands stylistic variety, and the score for Just in Time reflects that breadth. Under music supervisor and arranger Andrew Resnick, the show’s sound is driven by a tight ensemble that favors organic, live performance over electronics, giving the production a Rat Pack–era, Las Vegas residency feel rather than a conventional Broadway musical.

Resnick — who has developed the music with director Alex Timbers since the piece’s initial workshops at the 92nd Street Y — shaped arrangements that serve both story and spectacle. Some numbers function as narrative glue; others are designed to astonish. The production’s take on “Mack the Knife,” a song that dominated the Hot 100 for nine weeks in 1959, keeps its swagger and swing intact.

Gracie Lawrence, who earned a Tony nomination for portraying Connie Francis before leaving the production to concentrate on her sibling duo Lawrence, praises Resnick’s ear for tailoring arrangements to a vocalist’s unique strengths. A memorable key-change moment was inserted into Francis’ signature “Who’s Sorry Now” to establish her importance in Bobby’s life right from her first scene — a storytelling decision that Lawrence calls deliberately economical and effective.

Prior to her passing on July 16, 2025, at age 87, Connie Francis sent the cast signed photographs ahead of the show’s opening night (April 26). Lawrence says that the first performance after Francis’ death felt especially poignant and reinforced the cast’s responsibility to honor the artists they portray.

Erika Henningsen, who recently concluded her run as Sandra Dee — Darin’s wife from 1960–1967 — worked to convey the fully formed woman behind the studio-created ingénue. She focused on the person who matured quickly under Hollywood’s spotlight rather than a caricatured “pretty face.”

The Just in Time cast album — released on Atlantic, Darin’s longtime label — captures that era’s grit and glamour. Groff recorded the album the week after the 2025 Tony Awards, exhausted after a heavy performance schedule, yet he found the studio sessions unexpectedly effortless and alive; those present described the atmosphere as unusually relaxed and inspired.

When the 21-track recording concluded, Groff was overcome with emotion and laughed through tears, quipping, “Who needs therapy?” Colleagues say that the discipline of performing eight shows a week sharpened the cast’s studio work: repeated live runs help surface the small vocal inflections and textures that make the recordings feel lived-in.

Resnick hopes the album works as a complete listening experience — one you can play from start to finish and lose yourself in — and that it honors Darin in a way that would have made him proud.

Spit Takes: A Just in Time Sidebar

Early in the production, Groff warns front-row patrons that they’re in the “splish-splash” zone: his energetic delivery sometimes sends droplets into the audience. Cast members share candid recollections below.

Erika Henningsen: On songs dense with consonants, like our duet on “Irresistible You,” Groff’s proximity can turn into an involuntary shower — sometimes a light mist, sometimes a stronger stream. It’s part of the raw, physical reality of live performance.

Gracie Lawrence: I don’t get doused often — maybe because of our height difference — though there have been a couple of direct hits. Once I wiped my face and smudged it on his shirt; he loved the gesture. Honestly, being on the receiving end feels oddly like a baptism of theatricality.

Andrew Resnick: There are moments when Jonathan plays piano and the keys end up damp; occasionally a cherry cough drop leaves a visible tint. I keep tissues handy to wipe things down between numbers — whatever it takes to keep the show running.

Jonathan Groff: Seeing the studio footage of our recording made me realize how physically charged some performances can be. I try to channel that old-school, full-bodied showmanship that Bobby Darin brought to the stage.

Source