Saturday, April 26, 2025
Look out, Jonathan’s back! Tony Award® winner Jonathan Groff (Merrily We Roll Along, Hamilton) returns to Broadway this spring as Bobby Darin, the legendary singer whose short but remarka…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 11:05PMYet Groff is still swimming, right to the end. Dismayed as I was to endure so much else, I have to admit he’s giving one of Broadway’s best performances.
The post Jonathan Groff Channels…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 11:04PMWith a terrific full band right on stage the entire time, we are transported to the streets of East Harlem, Vegas, and even Portofino thanks to versatile nightclub scenic design by Derek McL…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 11:02PMNaturally, though, it’s Groff’s energy and charisma that anchor Just in Time. The brilliance of the show’s opening is that, by creating a staged-concert atmosphere from the start, it f…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 11:02PMDirector Alex Timbers and the book writers fail to go beyond the concert conceit, and never give us a real portrait of Darin or leave us with a clear idea of what we are supposed to think of…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 11:02PMGroff, assisted by a terrific trio of singer-dancers (Christine Cornish, Julia Grondin, Valeria Yamin) who back him up through the years and many, many fashions and dance styles, is tireless…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 11:02PMWhen Groff is singing and dancing (stunning choreography by Shannon Lewis), “Just in Time” absolutely dazzles. It doesn’t matter if what’s happening on stage ever makes you think of …
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 11:01PMGroff is undeniably great at bending a crowd around his little finger, and he’s working with an audience that’s delighted to be pandered to. He spends much of the show weaving through th…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 11:01PMThe melding of personas successfully transmutes Groff’s exceptional charisma and earned goodwill into the tale of a past celebrity most of the audience could not identify via photo. But it…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 11:01PMThe audience is situated in a sumptuously imagined, sparkling silver nightclub with multiple stages and a brilliant band in back. Groff spiritedly darts around the room, jumping on tables an…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 11:01PMThursday, April 24, 2025
Gilbert & Sullivan’s pirate ship docks in New Orleans in this jazzy-bluesy vision of the crowd-pleasing classic, in an outrageously clever romp sizzling with Caribbean rhythms and Fren…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:51PMExcept for the central performance by David Hyde Pierce, marvelously underplaying the tongue-twisting Major-General, the production has a sweaty quality, bordering on frenzy, that’s hopele…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:49PMThis “Pirates!” (mind the punctuation) isn’t particularly modern (adapter Rupert Holmes doesn’t take it that far), but it is a major Broadway staging — and oh so general.
The post …
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:48PMMore than that—it is Pirates staged with wonderfully energetic aplomb by director Scott Ellis, wittily choreographed by Warren Carlyle and expertly performed by a dream ensemble. In keepin…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:47PMRather than a slave of duty, Pirates! is the servant of too many masters: Gilbert & Sullivan, Dixieland jazz, milquetoast liberalism, and the tourism lobby New Orleans & Company, whi…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:47PMIf the cast seems instructed to play just a tad broadly, and hit the jokes a touch to hard, and the second act runs a bit too long, well, the overzealousness does little to dampen the overal…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:47PMThere might be a few bumpy waves in this piratical adaptation, but the booty is well-worth the effort. Even though it is unlikely to spur a trend of Gilbert and Sullivan revivals, this produ…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:46PMThe continental leap dusts off the 145-year-old operetta and gives it an energetic oomph of swing and ragtime music, and the stage is brightened up by hot-sauce pops of purple, yellow and fi…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:46PMUntil Pirates!, “Dear Bill” from Operation Mincemeat was my standout sung performance of the Broadway season; but Hyde Pierce’s rendition of “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major Ge…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:46PMThe delightful foam on the grog here is his being backed up by Scott Ellis’ outrageous direction of a flag-waving chorus that carries out Warren Carlyle’s foot-stomping choreography to m…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:46PMThe modern world is full of stress, so go and have a party, brah, And shake it like a necklace made of gaudy beads at Mardi Gras. Enjoy this Broadway hybrid that is tuneful and poetical: A m…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 10:46PMWednesday, April 23, 2025
In 1959 Hawkins, Indiana, the Creel family seeks a fresh start, especially their teenage son Henry, who is eager to escape his troubled past. Initially, things go well — he finds friendshi…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:46AM“The First Shadow” fulfills its franchise requirements in terms of spectacular art direction and compliance to the series’ canon (to which it adds tantalizing tidbits). Whether it is s…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:46AMThree hours in the “Stranger Things: The First Shadow” universe passes in a blink. By the end, you’re convinced they’ve pulled off another trick: an exorbitant spectacle wrapped arou…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:45AMEnough can’t be said that this production doesn’t just change the game of Broadway, it smashes the game board and shoots it into a new dimension. When you take one of the most watched te…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:44AMThe First Shadow, now an integral part of the ST canon, is an absolute must-see for all enthusiasts, and it will certainly inspire some of the uninitiated to binge the original (mission acco…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:44AMIf The First Shadow is purely an act of fan service, at least it’s an unapologetic and, if the audience around me was any judge, satisfying one. Is it a play? I mean, yes-ish? Is it an ext…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:44AMImmersive, heartfelt, and exhilarating, First Shadow is a must-see spectacle for the Stranger Things obsessive as much as it is for the theater aficionado who wants to see the medium pushed …
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:44AMNothing is left unscathed. Jump-scare noises blow out your eardrums. Blinding lights and raining sparks make you crave Anna Wintour’s indoor sunglasses. And there’s so much billowing haz…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:44AMThe result? A three-hour fan wiki brought to life, complete with origin stories, stilted dialogue, lame jokes, and sequences seemingly constructed only to set up the next visual effect. Yes,…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:44AMThe Netflix series, at its best, delivers a gritty film noir quality to this supernatural tale. What’s on stage at the Marquis resembles a jukebox musical comedy with lots of shock effects…
SOURCE: Did They Like It? at 12:44AM 
