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how is Jeremy Jordan in JUST IN TIME? | thoughts on the Broadway star's performance in the musical
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- [00:00]
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- [02:41]
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This time last year, Just In Time, a bio jukebox musical about the life and career of entertainer Bobby Darren opened at the Circle in the Square Theatre on Broadway and became one of the season's surprise hits, a season which, I'll remind you, had already seen the closure of another ostensibly similar bio jukebox musical about Louis Armstrong. It was a real surprise then, when Just In Time found critical and box office success and soon enough attained a real devoted audience, many people deduced that its secret weapon was its Tony Award winning leading man, Jonathan Groff, who was returning to Broadway almost immediately after his very successful performance in Merrily We Roll Along. Likewise, it wasn't immediately clear why Jonathan would want to come back to Broadway so soon, but we came to find out that show wasn't just a vehicle for him, it was a vehicle for joy, with both it and his performance being hugely celebrated over the following months. The next big surprise came when it was announced that the show, which was seemingly built and written around Jonathan's talents, would continue after his departure, with Matthew Morrison taking over for a brief number of weeks before another Broadway star, Jeremy Jordan, would take up the role of Bobby Darin. Meanwhile, a few weeks ago I arrived in New York just in time to see one of Jaremi's first performances in the role, and today I'm going to tell you all about it. But before I do, a quick introduction to me for those of you meeting me for the very first time. Oh my God. Hey, welcome back to my theatre themed YouTube channel. Or hello to those of you listening to this on podcast platforms. My name is Mickey Jo and I'm obsessed with all things theatre. I'm an independent theatre critic and a content creator who sees as many shows as possible, and last month I traveled to New York to see more than 20 shows in two weeks and I was prioritizing all of the new openings in the spring season, the new plays, the new musicals, the revivals, everything that was going to be eligible for this year's Tony Awards. However, I made a couple of exceptions to return to only one or two already open shows to see some exciting replacement casting, including the casting of Jeremy Jordan in Just In Time. And I was particularly curious about this one. Not just because Just In Time has been a really fascinating new musical to watch as one that was initially underestimated and has gone on to be quite successful, but also because I'm perpetually fascinated by the concept of replacement casting done well. We have seen celebrated examples of this in the past, like when Lea Michele went into Funny Girl on Broadway where it's said to have saved the show and you know, turned around its trajectory at the box office. We have seen polarizing examples of this in the past. We have seen controversial examples of this in the past. We've seen shows finding different levels of success, trying to maintain buoyancy at the box office using high profile casting. Cabaret at the KitKat Club attempted to do this on Broadway, continues to do this in the West End. O Mary is doing this very successfully still at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway. And I have said often that one of the keys to really good replacement casting is allowing performers to bring their own distinct interpretation of the material and not try to fit into a pre existing mould. Six is a show that does this really well, but so is Hadestown, so is Omari. For what it's worth. And where Just In Time comes into that conversation is very interesting because you may or may not know that when Jonathan Groff opened the show, the introductory monologue that he delivers to the audience was as himself Jonathan Groff who fourth wall preload before he becomes Bobby Darin, in which he would not only introduce himself but also talk about his own life, his upbringing, his identity, the way in which he finds Bobby Darin's life relatable, what the two of them had in common. Jonathan shared personal revelations about the challenges of maintaining relationships alongside a career on stage, as well as self deprecating jokes about the tendency that he has to spit a lot. All of which left me super curious for how Jaremi was going to do, but also what Jeremy to do. And today I am very excited to tell you what I thought as well as my thoughts on the new additions to the supporting cast and my experience of returning to see the show for a second time. Did I still think it was every bit as joyous? Does it hold up on a return trip? Meanwhile, those will just be my thoughts about Jeremy Jordan in just in Time and I would love to hear yours. If you have seen Jeremy or if you had the chance to see Matthew Morrison, I would love to know what you thought in the comments section down below. Share all of your thoughts and feelings. And if you would like to hear more of mine and more of my theatre reviews, including all of the rest of the shows that I got to see on Broadway, make sure you're subscribed right here on YouTube. Turn on the notifications so you don't miss any upcoming videos or go follow me on podcast platforms. For now though, let's talk about Jeremy Jordan and the new company of Just in Time.
- [07:22]
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My perfect day has sand, salt water and friends, but my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis can take me out of the moment. Now I'm all in with clearer skin thanks to skyrizi risen Kizumab RZA, a prescription only 150mg injection for adults who are candidates for systemic or phototherapy. With Skyrizi, Most people saw 90% clearer skin and many were even 100% plaque free at four months. Skyrizi is just four doses a year after two starter doses.
- [07:49]
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Don't use if allergic to Skyrizi. Serious allergic reactions, increased infections or lower ability to fight them may occur before treatment. Get checked for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor about any flu like symptoms or vaccines.
- [08:01]
C
Thanks to Skyrizi, there's nothing on my skin and that means everything. Ask your doctor about Skyrizi, the number one dermatologist prescribed biologic in psoriasis. Visit skyrizi.com or call 1-866-Skyrizi to learn more.
- [08:20]
B
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- [09:29]
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Now from what I can remember when they announced the replacement cast, Jonathan Groff, Matthew Morrison and Jeremy Jordan were both announced around the same time. And at that moment I think I thought that Matthew Morrison would be slightly better suited to some of the role's challenges because he is more of a dancer. And Jeremy Jordan, in all of the roles that he has played on stage, hasn't encountered that much choreography. He danced a little Bit in the Great Gatsby, he was in Newsies, which was a huge dance show choreographed by Christopher Gattelli, but he was playing Jack Kelly. And ultimately, even though Jonathan was very celebrated for his gleeful delivery of the choreography, I now think that that sort of matters less. And the success of this show has more to do with the charm and charisma and personality that you can bring to it, especially the way that it's set up in the beginning and the way that it concludes. The whole thing is framed with the real person who you are seeing on stage, Jonathan Groff or Matthew Morrison or Jeremy Jordan introducing themself to before explaining what the performance is going to be. And on that basis, having not seen Matthew Morrison in the show, wish that I had had the chance. I do think Jeremy Jordan now seems like a very good fit after Groff. The two of them are a very similar type. They played gay Russian boyfriends on that one Internet skit. That one time they did a duet of Let Me Be youe Star at Mizcast. They've both been Franklin Shepard types. And my takeaway from seeing the show a couple times now is that the key ingredient to being able to do this well is to be a great, compelling, charming cabaret personality. That is something Jeremy Jordan does frequently and well. That is something that comes naturally to Jonathan Groff. He is so endlessly endearing. That is something that Matthew Morrison has done somewhat polarizingly with all of the various clips on social media about his, I'll say, very distinct sort of cabaret routines. What they all have, though, is charm and charisma. And it shifts the question from how well can Jeremy Jordan replace Jonathan Groff? To how well can Jeremy Jordan deliver his version of this performance? And that's what the question should be. And I think in any case, he did a fantastic job. I would actually go as far as to say that this is probably my favorite Jeremy Jordan performance that I've had the chance to see on Broadway. I saw him do Bonnie and Clyde in concert. I never got to see him do Newsies, but I saw Floyd Collins, I saw the Great Gatsby. And in this one he gets to utilize a lot more of his natural skill set. Not only does he sound fantastic crooning all of these Bobby Darin songs. Of course, we know that he is an exceptional vocalist, one of the leading male vocalists of musical theater right now. A real generational vocal talent whose impact is going to be heard for years through various rising stars and upcoming performers who are all listening to him learning to sing These songs by trying to sing them like Jeremy Jordan. But he is also like Jonathan Groff, naturally charismatic and very funny in a very sort of playful, boyish way. He has these slightly flirtatious moments in his opening delivery. He gets to have an awful lot more fun than he did in Floyd Collins when he was lying down and yodeling. He gets to be a little less buttoned up than he was in the Great Gatsby, which was, you know, mostly intense, high belting. What just in time is doing very well is putting fan favorite performers center stage and allowing them to be themselves. So short of seeing them do a cabaret performance, this is the best chance you're going to get of going to see a Jeremy Jordan show and really getting the full Jeremy Jordan experience. If that's what you want, book tickets right now and go and see Just In Time on Broadway. Now let's talk a little bit about how the introductory section has been adapted to him. And I'm very curious about how the show is going to work long term for a sort of a licensed version. If there's going to be any kind of flexibility in terms of the person who's going to get to do it, how it's going to work on tour. There's talk of, you know, Jonathan Groff has said he has some ambition to do it in the West End. Are we going to end up with a generic version of the introductory moments of the script? And if we are, the version that Jeremy Jordan did almost feels like it could be that it was sort of moving towards that. He made a little passing joke about Newsies, about how, you know, it's been a long time since Newsies and he was going to be doing choreography. He referenced the fact that he has been in back to back Broadway shows for the last few years and said, I know what you're thinking. Does this man not know how to get home? He also spoke about the number of different shows in which he gets gunned to death at the end. But the majority of his monologue here was all about being nervous as a child and kind of keeping his head down. His mother telling him to just look up and be more confident, and him not finding that until he performed on stage for the first time and found that connection with an audience. Jonathan's speech ended up amounting to something similar. And that is where Jeremy finds kinship with Bobby Darin, who lived to perform on stage. It's one of the masterstrokes of this show to tell us from the beginning that Bobby Darin died young. That's hanging over him the entire show. And we then perceive the ticking clock like it's Oedipus. But also Bobby is contextualized to us immediately as this sensational talent who only ever wanted to perform for an audience. And so admittedly, Jeremy Jordan's version of this introduction might not be quite as much fun as I can't seem to hold down a relationship and I'm about to spit over all of these women, but it gets the job done. It remains self deprecating enough to endear us to him and to Bobby Darin, whom he then begins to portray. And it has never been a totally transformative depiction. But there are facets of Bobby Darin's character that I think Jeremy Jordan is better placed to access than perhaps Groff was. We've spoken extensively about how wonderful and charming and lovable Groff was. And not that Jeremy isn't all of those things, but there's also an impetuous youthful quality that he manages to find that makes the confrontational scenes between him and Emily Burgle's character land a little bit more substantially. By the time we get into the second act, you really feel the frustration in their strained relationship. You really get the sense that he does not like her. And that, I feel didn't come across as fully with Jonathan, who read just a little bit more fatigued and impatient, mentioned Jeremy's angry, and when this amounts to a full sort of a breakdown, it is considerably more thunderous. From what I recall, I feel as though Jonathan played Bobby in a way that was a little more manic. And with Jeremy, I really did get the sense of the ticking clock and him being conscious of the condition with which he has been diagnosed and the knowledge that he isn't supposed to have lived to the age that he has already reached, which for him in the script is both this enormous encouragement and an ongoing anxiety. His Bobby exhibits a fair few more character flaws, but also as much as Jonathan really leans into the youthful naivety at the beginning, back to the vocals. You can always tell a Jeremy Jordan vocal, I think, because of the tonality. He approaches notes in a way that is very specific, but he does modify his voice a little bit here to be a little bit more in this style. We've heard him do this before, sounding a little more classical when he did Floyd Collins, a little more traditional Broadway for the Great Gatsby, etc. There's a moment early on in this that almost amounts to a yodel, actually, but it's a gorgeous smooth crooning of the entire score just beautifully sung, unsurprisingly. And I really enjoyed the way that he did the choreo as well. I thought it was, you know, genuinely very well done. But also there's a real charm to someone doing this who is not a trained dancer who is flanked by these backing dancers. Bobby Darin was not this virtuoso ballerino. I think the only thing that really matters in those moments of dance is that it looks like it arises from joy and that it should conjure joy simultaneously, which this does. In short, Jonathan Groff hit a home run in this show by being Jonathan Groff, which is a fantastic thing to be. Jeremy Jordan similarly knocks it out of the park by being Jeremy Jordan. It should not be surprising that he's great in this role. What is surprising is that I just used two sports metaphors in a row. Let's carry on before I become a baseball commentator and talk about the supporting cast.
- [17:47]
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- [18:51]
C
My perfect day has sand, salt water and friends, but my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis can take me out of the moment. Now I'm all in with clearer skin thanks to Skyrizi Risankizumab riza, a prescription only 150mg injection for adults who are candidates for systemic or phototherapy with Skyrizi. Most people saw 90% clearer skin and many were even 100% plaque free at four months. Skyrizi is just four doses a year after two starter doses.
- [19:18]
D
Don't use if allergic to Skyrizi. Serious allergic reactions, increased infections or lower ability to fight them may occur before treatment. Get checked for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor about any flu like symptoms or vaccines.
- [19:30]
C
Thanks to Skyrizi, there's nothing on my skin and that means everything is everything. Ask your doctor about Sky Skyrizi, the number one dermatologist prescribed biologic in psoriasis. Visit skyrizi.com or call 1-866-Skyrizi to learn more.
- [19:56]
E
Now obviously I was incredibly excited to see Jeremy Jordan, but I was also very excited to see Issa Briones, who has just joined the cast as Connie Francis, a supporting role in the show and act one love interest for Bobby Darrett. Now Issa is a talent of stage and screen who made her Broadway debut playing Eurydice in Hadestown. I have recently been thoroughly enjoying her work on the Pit, as have many other people, which if you don't know is a medical drama TV series which takes place in real time that I have been watching exclusively on airplanes. And though she has had to a couple of times on social media ask people to refrain from addressing her during the show as Dr. Santos, which bafflingly people have been doing because nobody knows how to be outside anymore, I will say that if you enjoy her work as that character, there is a little bit of a personality overlap with Connie Francis. She is similarly bold and boisterous here, but she does get to do something very different, which is to show off her fantastic vocals. She is a sensational vocalist who we need to cast in five more Broadway musicals before she becomes too famous to do them. Gracie Lawrence was show stopping in this role when it first opened. Issa Briones had me forgetting anyone else had ever played the role previously. That's how original she felt in the material. That's how spontaneous she felt in the scenes with Jaremi. I thought they had great chemistry together and to see her go from all of the initial attitude of this character to vulnerability and ultimately heartbreak was really beautifully played. She was sort of giving Rizzo from Greece, now that I think about it, which is actually ironic because the next person I'm going to talk about is Carrie St. Louis, who has recently joined the show to play IRL Sandra Dee, the Act 2 supporting character in Love Interest who would become Bobby Darin's wife. Now Carrie was recently one of a trio of actresses to share the role of Dolly Parton in the Broadway bound Dolly Parton musical. She prior to that was a rose in Titanique Off Broadway. I got to see her in that role. She's hilarious and wildly talented she's also been a Glinda in Wicked, and I bet you anything she gave very good. Thank goodness, because that's kind of the vibe of a lot of her material in this show as well. And similarly, she played the heartbreak really beautifully, which Sandra Dee has a component of. Almost from her arrival, she walks on looking like a vintage pink and blonde Barbie doll and almost immediately breaks the fourth wall herself, taking over her own introduction and telling the audience about her challenging childhood as a young star, offering details which lay the groundwork for the inevitable deterioration of her marriage to Bobby Darin. And both this material and the song that she goes on to sing are delivered with this very knowing behind the eyes that I thought was just wonderful. Of course, she's an accomplished Broadway star, so the vocals sound perfect and polished. All of the poise and the posture of her performance. My God, so many P's. What plosive praise. My goodness. But what she and Issa and Jeremy all have to do in these roles is arrive and immediately command star quality. And she does very much. But there's a suggestion that the smile is somewhat rehearsed and more than slightly strained. And I just love the depth and the layers of what she's doing with this character. She plays the downfall of the whole thing so well, just wittily enough and especially in their final moments. I really love the rapport that she finds with Jeremy. And there is another recent addition to the supporting cast, and that is Debbie Gravitt as Polly, introduced to us very early on in the exposition as Bobby's mother. And she's this wonderfully vibrant, broad of a character who cares passionately about Bobby's career and the trajectory that it ought to take and the songs that he ought to sing and the places where he ought to perform. She's also had a whole bunch of husbands, and she's performed on stage herself. And Debbie Gravett is so damn brassy in this role. I love a Broadway diva who can really deliver brass and who feels old school and who seems to delight so much in some of these really great line readings. She pops up in a few other roles in the show, as does the ongoingly brilliant Emily Burgle. And as much as anything else, I'm just really pleased that roles are still being written to return legendary actresses to the St. Who have these substantial Broadway careers. This is Debbie's ninth Broadway show in a career that has spanned decades. You can feel every rhinestone and feather of that experience in her performance in this show. It has an effortless quality to it. But also a joy. There is a sensation that they are all delighting in telling this story and just getting to perform for and amongst the audience. That has always, I think, been a really key ingredient to the casting of Just in Time. It ought to feel blissful. So what then do I think about the viability of going back to see this show a second time? Had you asked me this question a year ago before I'd seen it for the first time, I would have been shocked A that it was still running, B that it was running without and beyond Jonathan Groff and C I just said beyond and C very close together. Not deliberate, but a fun little Easter egg like see that. I would want to go back again. I'm actually sad I didn't get the chance to go back and see it with Jonathan Groff one last time. I'm sad I didn't get to see Matthew Morrison. I am so curious now henceforth to see other performers in the role because I think a show can be a hit with one individual. But for the material to really be considered great, for that show to be more than just a star vehicle, it has to be able to survive with subsequent casting. Is it still a hit with somebody else else? I am pleased to say that Just In Time, against all odds, absolutely is. They have managed to bottle something within this show that transcends the usual and generic jukebox buyer musical. We have seen so many of them. Few of them are this fantastic, especially A Second Time. There are also details within some of the plot revelations. So much of what happens to Bobby Darren is laid out for you at the beginning. This show does not offer many surprises, but those that that it does mean. Watching the first act once you've already seen the second act previously is a different and enjoyable experience. You get to notice some things, shall we say. Props to director Alex Timbers for those details. So yes, my answer is emphatically go back and see Just In Time on Broadway. For those of you who still haven't seen it for the first time, I urge you to do so. If you're any kind of a fan of Jeremy Jordan, I think this is a really great opportunity to see him on stage, especially at the beginning as himself. But I also think it's one of the best uses of his talents we've seen in a long time. I also think there aren't that many other shows. You know, we have glitz elsewhere, we have great songs elsewhere, we have Joyful dance elsewhere. But there aren't that many shows that offer you such easygoing, relaxed gleeful escapism, especially in traumatic times. And you know, we need meaningful theatre, we need impactful theatre, we need theater that is in conversation with the current moment. But if you need to truly escape from your woes and go somewhere, we're going to be bathed in blue light and the sensation of champagne. Go and see Just In Time in the basement of Wicked AKA the Circle in the Square Theatre on Broadway. In terms of this show's future, I'm very intrigued to see whether it continues beyond Jeremy Jordan, whether Jonathan Groff returns to the role. I know he is coming over here to the UK later this year to do a little bit of Shakespeare. Whether the show is produced elsewhere, who ends up leading the tour, I am am very curious to see what happens and there's every possibility that down the road I end up seeing it and reviewing it again. So if you would like to hear more of my thoughts on this show, stay tuned. Make sure you're subscribed, but in the meantime, I would love to know what you think. If you have had the chance to see Just In Time on Broadway, please share all of your thoughts in the comments section down below. For now, thank you for listening to mine and as always, I hope that everyone is staying safe and that you have a stagey day. For 10 more seconds, I'm Minky Jo Theatre. Oh my God. Hey, thanks for watching. Have a stagey day. Subscribe
- [27:59]
F
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- [28:30]
C
my perfect day has sand, salt water and friends, but my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis can take me out of the moment. Now I'm all in with clearer skin thanks to Skyrizi. Rizyn Kizzen Mavriza a prescription only 150mg injection for adults who are candidates for systemic or phototherapy with Skyrizi, most people saw 90% clearer skin and many were even 100% plaque free. At four months, Skyrizi is just four doses a year.
- [28:55]
D
After two starter doses, don't use if allergic to Skyrizi. Serious allergic reactions, increased infections or lower ability to fight them may occur before treatment. Get checked for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor about any flu like symptoms or vaccines.
- [29:10]
C
Thanks to Skyrizi, there's nothing on my skin and that means everything is everything. Ask your doctor about Skyrizi, the number one dermatologist prescribed biologic in psoriasis. Visit skyrizi.com or call 1-866-Skyrizi to learn more.
- [29:29]
A
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