There is a Sinatra vibe that Jonathan Groff nails from the start, when, in shiny tux and tie, he works his way around the café tables of Broadway’s Circle in the Square Theater,  redesigned to look like a swanky, smoky nightclub, crooning “Just in Time,” the elegant Jule Styne/Comden and Green ballad that Sinatra in fact recorded in 1959, three years after Tony Bennett had a hit with it. 

“I’m Jonathan,” Groff says when he finishes the song. “I’ll be your Bobby Darin tonight. How about these digs? Not bad for the basement of ‘Wicked.’”

“Just in Time” was not, as far as I know, a signature song for Bobby Darin, and yet here it is the title for this jukebox musical about Darin’s life.

There is some irony here, whether or not intentional. Later in this show, after Bobby Darin has landed his first hit, a silly little rock n roll novelty song in 1958 about taking a bath called “Splish Splash,” a reporter asks him: “Are you the next Fabian?”

“I’m aiming higher: Films, television,”  Groff as Bobby Darin replies. “I want to pass Sinatra in everything he does.”

That did not happen. Darin’s singing career arguably peaked the following year with his number one hit, the Grammy-winning “Mack the Knife.” His movie career, which included an Oscar nomination, lasted about five years. By the age of 32, he had trouble finding work. He died in 1973 at age 37. 

Starting as a maybe-Fabian successor and Elvis wannabe, he tried his luck at imitating Bing and Dean and Johnny Mathis, failed at taking up the mantle of Frank Sinatra, and near the end, traded his tux for blue jeans and tried to sing folk, which got him banned (temporarily) at the Copa.

Bobby Darin  frankly does not strike me as having either the endurance in the culture or a uniquely compelling enough story to be the most obvious figure to build a Broadway show around. This is where Jonathan Groff comes in.  While telling of Darin’s life,  Groff in effect stars in a nightclub act, combining his talents and charm with those of the ostensible subject of the show, as well as with other first-rate performers portraying the women in Darin’s life.

Born Walden Robert Cassotto in East Harlem in 1936 to a single mother, he was a bright boy with a weak heart; he was not expected to live past the age of 16. Michele Pawk portrays his mother Polly Walden, who had been a vaudeville singer; it’s natural for her to sing as well. 

His first love was Connie Francis before she was a star (herself born Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero.) They wanted to get married but her religious father threatened to kill him. Gracie Lawrence, who portrays her, gets to sing her first hit “Who’s Sorry Now.” 

 He wound up marrying his co-star Sandra Dee, portrayed by Erika Henningsen (star of Mean Girls), so we not only get some duets, but we see Groff as Darin woo her in one number by (briefly) playing each and every instrument in the band to impress her.

Much of what we’re told in “Just in Time” about Darin is a fairly standard show biz story. It’s a measure of how little in his biography there is to work with that the show holds off until nearly the end to reveal a big family secret, one that’s easily available in the most cursory bio of Darin online.  But there is some drama in the relationship with Dee. For all his charm as a performer, Darin doesn’t seem like a very nice man. He insists she go on the road with him, and show his fans and hers how much she appreciates his act. He soon tires of her. He sends his brother-in-law turned valet Charlie (Joe Barbara) to relay the message: “He wants a divorce.” There is a hint that his impatience is motivated by his knowledge that he will die young, but it’s buried too deeply beneath an off-putting ambition. 

At one point Darin says he is only comfortable on the stage. And that’s where we mostly see him, suitably backed by performers in Catherize Zuber’s early 60s club couture, moving to sexy, slinky cabaret  choreography by Shannon Lewis. For Bobby Darin fans, “Just in Time” delivers his hits: “Beyond the Sea,” “Dream Lover,” “Rock Island Line,” “Queen of the Hop,” “Up a Lazy River,” “If I Were A Carpenter,” and of course “Mack the Knife.”

But it’s fans of Jonathan Groff who are best served by the show – and those theatergoers who might discover Groff at the same time as Darin.

Just in Time
Circle in the Square Theater through July 27
Running time: Two hours and 20 minutes including an intermission
Tickets: $99 – $499
Book by Warren Leight and Isaac Oliver; Based on an original concept by Ted Chapin;
Developed and directed by Alex Timbers; choreographed by Shannon Lewis
Scenic Design by Derek McLane; Costume Design by Catherine Zuber; Lighting Design by Justin Townsend; Sound Design by Peter Hylenski; Hair and Wig Design by Tom Watson;

Cast: Jonathan Groff as Bobby Darrin, Gracie Lawrence as Connie Francis, Erika Henningsen as Sandra Dee, Michele Pawk as Polly Walden, Joe Barbara as Charlie Maffia and others,Emily Bergl as Nina Cassetto and others, Lance Roberts, Caesar Samayoa, Christine Cornish, Julia Grondin, Valeria Yamin, John Treacy Egan, Tari Kelly, Matt Magnusson, Khori Michelle Petinaud, Larkin Reilly