This time may be that this biography calls quits on Jukebox music. “Jersey Boys” ignited a trend, but many of its spons have been mostly disorganized. Recently we have “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical,” “Ant Not Row: The Life and Times of the Temption,” “The Cher Show,” “MJ,” “MJ,” “Tina,” “A Beautiful Noise: The Neel Diamond Musical,” and short -lived “A. Wonderful World: The Lui Ar Australian Mucus.” We can now add to this minimalist list “At the right time“Based on life and music of” Bobby darinStarred Jonathan Groff (“Hamilton,” “Looking”).
Biography Jukebox is probably the worst sub-style of music. They are often slightly higher than the Wikipedia articles of music, riding a faster through an artist’s career, filled their lives with more and more hit songs in a two -hour show. “Just in time” increases it, oversifies, but also fails to give us a real feeling of darin. Born as a sick child in Harlem in 1936, he eventually became a musician, a singer-songman, and an actor, in the late 1950s, he gained fame with “Dream Lover” and “Beyond the C” and “Beond the C” and “Mac the Knife”.
Unlike some Jucboxes, who have a career for a decades to cover, this music is more manageable because Darin died in only 37. Nevertheless, somehow, book writers Warren Lite and Isaac Oliver give us less details compared to most bio-jucboxes. Most “Just in Time” focuses on Darin from the age of 19, when he began to write music, until 31, when he divorced his first wife, Hollywood Sweethart Sandra D (Erica Henningsen). (His second wife has been completely cut off.) The last third of his career has been rapidly covered in about fifteen minutes at the end of the show: his political career, folk music, his bankruptcy, and a trailer-ritual repetition in his lineage included his dynasty in a single monologue, covered for some unknown cause by Sandra Day.
In theory, Jewkbox music exists to show a discography, but only one -third of the songs in “Just in Time” were written by Darin. In addition to his original songs, he was known for his cover, which explains it a little. However, there are a lot of songs in this music that were not performed by Darin: The Creative team included Elvis and Von Munro (both of them tried to copy) as well as Darin’s early-career girlfriend, Koni Francis (“Sex Lives of College Girls” by Gracie Lawrence (Sex Lives of College Girls “). For Jukebox music, it does not do a great work celebrating Darin’s original work.
This is the central irony – and the main problem of music – that “just in time” openly presents itself as a glorious tribute concert. The show begins with a misleading declaration: “Women and gentlemen, please, keep your hands together and welcome on stage … Jonathan Groff!” Groff then comes into an elevator trap door, such as the 2000s pop star entered the stadium tour. He sings two best songs of Darin as himself, and gives a speech about how he always loves Darin, because he “Pennsylvania Amish had a child in the country (her) mother’s heel, listening to the record of (her) father.”
Immediately after jumping into darin mode, often spoke to the audience, stretching your fingers to freeze action (a hallmark of lazy writing), but you can never realize that it originally sings Bobby Darin tunes. The Art Deco of the Derek McClen, the Kopakbana-inspired set brings the band and facilitates the cafe table on the floor (fully disregards the circle in the form of production and square theater in the form of a square theater, functionally considers it as a processionum phase). Although the set makes a little change, it never really changes; Visually we are always in Copa, which limits the music ability to completely sink into the story.
For such a talented actor and singer – Groff is away from a Tony win for “Merly We Roll Saath” – this is difficult to let his performance not reduce. He has been given very little to work as an actor, and the songs are neither outspoken nor interesting to listen especially. There is not much beyond Groff, making cases worse. All other characters lack depth, the best symbol by siren (Christine Cornish, Julia Grontine, and Valeria Yamin), a trio of lazer backup dancers who are always wasted to bounce behind Groff and perform a never -ending stream of never -ending changes. Mitchell Pavak is an ideal mother and a low -inferior Emily Bragyl is a often shouted sister. He performs his best with what Heningson has given, but does not even have a lorence task, an over-eye, one-grandmother is coming as Miz Machal replication (although he has a lot of voice).
After Darin’s death, Groff gives a cloying speech, which tells us that “Every breath is a gift we meet to open.” The show ends with a megamics, with some suspicious arrangements options. “Dream lover,” clear crowd preferred (which was painted in a trimmed, under-stamped number on top of only one Act two) only included briefly. The main condition of prominence is given to “Spleish Splash”, which may be his first hit, but a mindless song that says Darin, In this musicHe He does not want to join or remember him after he dies.
Director Alex Timbers And book writers fail to go beyond the concert concert, and never give us real pictures of Darin or leave us with a clear idea of ​​what we think about him. Music gives us a brief glimpse of how poorly she treated many people in life, especially women. Groff and the team clearly love him and his work, but what are we to do?
Darin comes as a hack, a cheating music parrot – part Elvis, Bhaag Sinatra, any part that was charting – without his own voice. Although a bio-jackbox does not necessarily need to glorify its subject, it should be on the minimum justification as to why they are the subject of a music in the first place, which “just in time” never does. During music, you will probably have learned very little about darin, and until you enter a devotee, there is a thin chance that you will leave. Music does almost nothing to explain to the audience of Darin’s talent or makes it clear whether it makes him a suitable or worthy subject of exploration.
Unlike its title, “Just in Time” is anything, but on time, because the window of Darin’s relevance has long gone. Even Darin admitted in the show that till 1968 he was the “news of yesterday”. Just for time Whatwe can ask? Do we really need a whole music about a straight white man with some hit songs in the 60s? For that case, do we need many? This is actually the second Bobby Darin Musical (other, “Dream Lover,” Premier in Australia in 2016), not to mention Kevin Spacee -led biopic, “Beyond the C”. Since 2004. Does Bobby Darin really attract so much attention?
Floping in a concert in Copa (sound familiar?) Darin tells fans, “If they want to listen to old songs, they should go home and play records” – who is good advice for those who consider looking at “Just in Time”, who are really better than listening to the original at home. A positive thing must have come out of this music, however: this can only be the last nail in the bio-jawkebox coffin.
