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[title]Broadway shows come and go, but the good ones find ways to keep themselves fresh. Just in Time just did exactly that: the cast got a genuine jolt of new energy this fall, and it makes an already electric night even more irresistible.
At the center of it all is still Jeremy Jordan, at least for a little while longer: Jordan’s final performance is set for October 18, making this fall genuinely your last chance to catch his take on the role. And, it’s hard to overstate just how electrifying he is. Every actor that steps into the role of Bobby Darin makes it his own, and Jordan is no exception. Time Out’s own Adam Feldman put it best in his review, calling Jordan “one of Broadway’s most appealing leading men,” and noting that he “almost never lets you see him sweat,” even while belting his way through some of the most demanding vocal material on Broadway right now. It’s the kind of performance that makes an audience feel like they’re witnessing something special happen in real time, night after night.
Joining him now is Ariana Madix, stepping into the role of Connie Francis for a strictly limited run through November 22. If the name sounds more familiar from reality TV than the Great White Way, consider this your reminder that Madix has already proven she’s the real deal on a Broadway stage, her 2024 debut in Chicago turned into an extended, sold-out run. She’s spoken about growing up on Connie Francis’s music, played on the piano by her own father, and about wanting to honor the role rather than simply imitate it. Watching her share the stage with Jordan adds a new layer of chemistry to a show that was already crackling with it.
There’s more casting news too: after an acclaimed run in the role last spring, Matthew Morrison is returning to play Bobby Darin for a limited three-week engagement beginning October 20, picking up right where Jordan’s run leaves off. It’s a rare chance to catch one of the show’s most celebrated Darins step back into the role, however briefly.
None of this would land the way it does without the room itself. Circle in the Square has been reconfigured into an intimate, low-lit nightclub, cabaret tables and all, and the effect is total: there isn’t a bad seat in the house, because there isn’t really a traditional “seat” at all in the usual Broadway sense. You’re not watching the show from a distance, you’re inside it, close enough to catch every glance and every note.
And what notes they are. Hearing “Beyond the Sea,” “Mack the Knife,” “Splish Splash” and “Dream Lover” performed live, in a room built to feel like the place these songs actually belong, is a different experience entirely from hearing them on a record. This isn’t a show that marches dutifully through a greatest-hits playlist while checking off biographical boxes. It’s a live, breathing night out that happens to be soundtracked by some of the best songs of the 20th century, which is exactly why it works for lifelong Bobby Darin fans and people hearing these songs for the first time in equal measure.
Feldman’s review landed on the simplest possible truth about this show, and it’s still the whole point: “Just in Time, happily, still happens to be great fun.” A hit musical about a man who refused to waste a single moment deserves an audience willing to do the same. Consider this your sign not to wait.
Just in Time is playing at Circle in the Square Theatre. Get tickets before Jordan takes his final bow on October 18, or catch Matthew Morrison’s own limited return starting October 20. Either way, stay tuned to see who will be appearing at the Copa after that.