Eliana Willis

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    Jonathan Groff, Fresh Off Tony Win, Will Return to Broadway as Bobby Darin

    “Just in Time,” a new musical about the “Mack the Knife” pop singer, will open next spring at Circle in the Square in Manhattan.Jonathan Groff, who won his first Tony Award in June for starring in a hit revival of “Merrily We Roll Along,” will return to Broadway next spring to play Bobby Darin in a biomusical he has been developing for years.The musical, “Just in Time,” is to begin previews March 28 and to open April 23 at Circle in the Square Theater in Midtown Manhattan. The theater, with its close approximation of an in-the-round experience, will be configured to accommodate an immersive nightclub-like staging, with a 16-person cast, an onstage big band, two stages and some cabaret-style seating.The show began its life in 2018 at the 92nd Street Y as a five-performance concert called “The Bobby Darin Story,” and has been developed through a number of workshops. In an interview, Groff said he hadn’t been sure what to expect from that initial run, but that “it lit me up.”“There is some sort of kinetic magic that happens with the live execution of his material,” said Groff, 39, who was also a Tony nominee for “Hamilton” (he played King George III) and “Spring Awakening” (his breakout role). He has worked extensively on television (“Glee,” “Looking” and “Mindhunter”) and reached global audiences with his voice work as Kristoff in Disney’s “Frozen” films.Darin, a singer-songwriter whose pop career peaked in the 1950s and ’60s, is best known for the songs “Splish Splash,” “Mack the Knife” and “Beyond the Sea.” He suffered from a heart condition, and died at the age of 37.“Dramatically he’s really interesting, because what do you do when your whole career is on borrowed time?” said the musical’s director, Alex Timbers, who won a Tony Award for directing “Moulin Rouge!” “His life was lived at high-octane speed. A woman he thought was his sister ended up being his mother. He went on a whole voyage into folk and pop and then decided he was a nightclub animal.”The musical has a book by Warren Leight (a Tony winner for “Side Man”) and Isaac Oliver and will be choreographed by Shannon Lewis. The show was conceived by Ted Chapin, who wrote the initial script and produced it at the Y as part of that institution’s long-running Lyrics & Lyricists series.“We all got invested and excited about the idea of telling his life story in this environment of a night club,” Groff said. “We’re playing with the genre of the biomusical, trying to find our own unique point of view and way into not only his story but also the genre itself. There’s a bit of experimentation happening here.”The lead producers of “Just in Time” are Tom Kirdahy, Robert Ahrens and John Frost; the musical is being capitalized for up to $12.5 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. More

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    No Lie: George Washington Is Funny Now

    The first president is usually at the margins of popular culture. As a recurring character on “Saturday Night Live” and a trend on TikTok, is he finally having a moment?Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr and Thomas Jefferson were immortalized in “Hamilton.” John Adams had his own HBO mini-series, and Samuel Adams is a beer. Ben Franklin often appears experimenting with his kite when characters travel back in time to Colonial America.And then there’s George Washington.He might be the first president, but the stoic general who led the Americans to an unlikely Revolutionary War victory doesn’t exactly lend himself to memes and caricatures in popular culture. Other founders immersed in drama and scandal (Hamilton, Jefferson) or at least more quotable (Franklin, Adams) have gotten more attention.But Washington — “a marble man of impossible virtue and perfection,” as the New York Times book critic Michiko Kakutani once called him — might finally be having his moment.Over the weekend, “Saturday Night Live” brought back “Washington’s Dream,” one of its biggest hits last season. The comedian Nate Bargatze, known for his deadpan delivery, plays a subdued, earnest Washington who is trying to inspire his soldiers with his peculiar vision of a free America. In the original version, at camp, he dwells on a new, confusing system of weights and measurements (while consigning the metric system to “only certain unpopular sports, like track and swimming”).In the latest, Washington leads his soldiers across the Delaware River as he yearns to Americanize the English language, proclaiming: “I dream that one day our great nation will have a word for the number 12. We shall call it a ‘dozen.’”A soldier asks what other numbers would have their own words: “None,” Bargatze replied. “Only 12 shall have its own word, because we are free men.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    How ‘Nobody Wants This’ Became Netflix’s Latest Hit

    The Netflix rom-com checks every genre box, but it became a megahit by offering versions of everything you already like on TV.Two leads with nostalgia power. A meet cute. A series of fish-out-of-water mishaps, some of which rely on an almost alarming level of ignorance or ineptitude. A party that goes awry — probably from too much stress. (Probably a wealthy, maybe even icy woman has caused this stress.) Her: Frazzled, into her phone. Him: Safe, sensitive, sage.Make it about Christmas, and you have a Hallmark Channel original. Make it about interfaith romance, and it’s Netflix’s latest hit “Nobody Wants This.”A romantic comedy that checks every genre box, “Nobody” is about the star-crossed attraction between Joanne, a Los Angeles podcast host played by Kristen Bell, and Noah, a soulful rabbi played by Adam Brody. Since arriving on Netflix late last month, it has remained at or near the top of the service’s most-watched chart, sharing space with a show from the darker end of the replication factory, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.”“Nobody” has generated as much coverage as that grisly docudrama, thanks partly to its charms and partly to its shortcomings, namely its depictions of Jewish women that rely on hoary stereotypes.The draw of “Nobody,” though, is not that the show is so distinctive, it’s that it is so familiar. Rom-coms have thrived on streaming as they have mostly fallen out of fashion in theaters, and for this particular genre “formulaic” is no great diss — it is perhaps the opposite. (“Nobody” isn’t even the best opposites-attract rom-com to arrive on TV recently — that would be Season 2 of “Colin From Accounts,” on Paramount+.) Beyond the show’s ample joys and persistent irritants — “What about our podcast?” is this show’s “can MomTok survive this?” — there’s a Goldilocks ease to the endeavor that one can see as either finely honed or algorithmically precooked; simply reheat and enjoy.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    ‘La Haine’ Is Back (as a Musical This Time)

    Mathieu Kassovitz has turned his cult 1995 movie into a stage musical. The France it represents is different — though much hasn’t changed.Watching the musical “La Haine” is a bit like looking at a beloved’s face under water: It’s familiar, but distorted.Almost three decades after Mathieu Kassovitz’s classic film became a political sensation and cult hit in France, the actor and director has transformed it into a stage show that opens at the Seine Musicale in Paris on Oct. 10 before touring the country.The musical tells the same haunting story of three close friends from Paris’s neglected suburban projects who, in the aftermath of a lethal confrontation with the police, go on a rambling journey into the capital with a gun and a thirst for vengeance.The same young men take center stage — the angry white character of Vinz, originally played by Vincent Cassel; the wise Black boxer Hubert; and the joker Saïd, of North-African descent — and repeat many of the movie’s lines, which became classics in French culture. A clock counts down the same way throughout, rushing toward the same terrible end.The most significant differences, of course, are the song and dance numbers, produced by some of the biggest names in French music, including the rapper Youssoupha and the pop star Matthieu Chedid, who goes by M. Although the film was saturated with hip-hop culture, it featured very little actual music. The soundtrack was urban percussion — roaring motorcycles and hissing trains.“I’m very curious to see how people react to it, because it’s close enough to the original movie so that people can feel comfortable. And far enough so people don’t feel betrayed,” Kassovitz, now 57, said in an interview during a rehearsal break, two weeks before opening night. “I’m dancing on a thin line.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Should Famous People Be Telling Us This Much About Their Illnesses?

    For some celebrities, revealing all is part of the product. For others, it looks like a deeply unpleasant chore.This past summer, Celine Dion manufactured a breathtaking cultural moment. It was at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, just after a long, daffy and highly maximalist buildup to the lighting of the Olympic cauldron. Suddenly, there she was, standing on a terrace of the twinkling Eiffel Tower in a scintillant Dior gown. As she sang, a swell of both applause and what sounded like a collective moan of pleasure rose from the audience. Celine Dion was alive and singing. And if you didn’t cry, it could only be because you didn’t know.It was hard not to know. A few weeks before the Olympics came the release of “I Am: Celine Dion,” a well-publicized documentary that took viewers inside what had become of her life since she became largely housebound with stiff-person syndrome — an exceedingly rare disorder that, in Dion’s case, causes terrifying whole-body spasms so severe that they can break bones. Anyone who has watched “I Am” knows what these crises look like, because Dion allowed herself to be filmed during one of them, for 10 minutes, her body frozen in agonizing contortions. By that point, we were already familiar with Dion’s universe of deep illness; we’d seen her holed up in her Las Vegas compound, surrounded by doctors, unable to walk properly, unable to sing properly, often supine, her body distended, her skin raw. In terms of radical transparency, “I Am” is a milestone: a completely new standard for Bravely Baring All.Dion is far from the only celebrity to have invited the public to witness life with a serious illness. Lady Gaga’s 2017 documentary, “Gaga: Five Foot Two,” revealed the star’s daily struggle with fibromyalgia, and in last year’s “Still,” Michael J. Fox — a groundbreaking figure in celebrity-illness transparency — further tugged down the curtain on how severe his Parkinson’s disease has become. Selma Blair, who spent a portion of her career hiding symptoms, eventually revealed a diagnosis of M.S. and then began posting intensely personal bedside updates on social media. Last year an issue of British Vogue had her on the cover, in a skinny beige column of a dress, patent pumps and a cane, with a headline announcing her as “Dynamic, Daring & Disabled.”For fans, these narratives can create a kind of whiplashing feelings roller coaster. You see Lady Gaga diminished and sobbing because of unrelenting full-body pain — and then, soon enough, suspended from the top of a Houston stadium for a Super Bowl halftime performance. You witness Celine Dion in a heartbreaking, horrible fit and then belting out an Edith Piaf song from such great heights. The intention here, surely, is to show that such stars are only human, that their lives and bodies have the same potential for suffering as ours. But the insane highs and pitiable lows these stories offer us feel almost inhumanly extreme. And in watching them, I began wondering if the stars in them didn’t end up feeling caged by the seemingly necessary Hollywood framing in which inspiration and drama need to take precedence over nuance and open-endedness. Dion and Gaga have to adapt to illnesses for which there is no known cure. So what do they do now? The answer is synonymous with their job: perform.Middleton’s video just feels so weird.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Jimmy Kimmel: Putin Is Trump’s ‘KGBFF’

    Kimmel shared tidbits from Bob Woodward’s new book, including that Donald Trump had spoken with Vladimir Putin seven times since leaving office — “which is less than Ivanka, but more than Tiffany.”Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.KGBFF 4-EverIn his new book, “War,” the journalist Bob Woodward reported that former President Donald Trump had spoken to Vladimir Putin as many as seven times since leaving office. Woodward also wrote that Trump sent the Russian president Covid-19 testing equipment in 2020, at a time it was hard to find, for personal use.“You wouldn’t want one of the most villainous murderers on the planet to get a cough, would you?” Jimmy Kimmel joked of Trump’s “KGBFF” on Tuesday.“I mean, nurses, doctors, American hospitals couldn’t get these machines — he’s sending them to the devil himself.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“The book says Trump has spoken to Vladimir Putin seven times since he left office, which is less than Ivanka, but more than Tiffany. It’s right in that daughter sweet spot.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“That’s how you know they’re tight. Adult men never call each other. I haven’t called my best friend seven times total.” — SETH MEYERS“Trump once made a senior aide leave the room so he could have a ‘private’ call with Putin, which: [imitating Putin] ‘Hello, Donald, what are you wearing? I’m shirtless on my horse again.’” — JIMMY KIMMEL“So, Trump was secretly giving sound medical advice to a foreign adversary while publicly convincing Americans to poison themselves with bleach. I’ve got to say, most presidents would do that the other way around, but hey, you do you, Trump.” — JORDAN KLEPPERThe Punchiest Punchlines (Category 5 Edition)“Wow, Donald, you’ve never heard of a Category 5 hurricane hitting land? That’s weird, because I remember one happening while you were president.” — JORDAN KLEPPER, on Trump’s spotty recollection“He was probably busy with Kanye during that one.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“He did get his meteorologist degree from Trump University.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“For all you people who think he is in mental decline, it turns out he’s been the same level of stupidity for years.” — JORDAN KLEPPERThe Bits Worth WatchingVice President Kamala Harris cracked open a beer during her sit-down with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday’s “Late Show.”What We’re Excited About on Wednesday NightRiley Keough will promote the new posthumous memoir by her mother, Lisa Marie Presley, on Wednesday’s “Late Night.”Also, Check This OutLyle Menendez in a scene from the documentary “The Menendez Brothers.”NetflixDespite promising exclusive new interviews, Netflix’s new documentary “The Menendez Brothers” relies on the tabloid appeal surrounding renewed interest in the 1989 murder. More

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    Jenna Fischer, ‘The Office’ Star, Reveals Breast Cancer Diagnosis

    “I am now cancer free,’’ the actress announced on Instagram, noting that she was diagnosed with Stage 1 cancer in December and that early detection had played a key role in her successful treatment.Jenna Fischer, the actress best known for her role as Pam Beesly in the popular television series “The Office,” said on Tuesday that she was diagnosed with Stage 1 triple-positive breast cancer in December but that she was now cancer free after successful treatment.“I am now cancer free,’’ Ms. Fischer, 50, of Los Angeles, said in her announcement, imploring her nearly four million Instagram followers to consult with their doctors and schedule annual mammogram appointments.“If I had waited six months longer, things could have been much worse,” Ms. Fischer said. “It could have spread.”She said that she had surgery in January to remove the tumor that doctors had found. That was followed by “12 rounds of weekly chemotherapy” and “three weeks of radiation,” her post said.“I’m happy to say I’m feeling great,” said Ms. Fischer, who is also an author and the co-host of a popular podcast about “The Office” with Angela Kinsey, a former co-star from the show. Ms. Fischer said she was continuing a treatment plan that includes infusions of targeted therapy.A representative for Ms. Fischer declined a request for an additional comment from the actress on Tuesday.In addition to her role in “The Office,” a television show that ran on NBC for eight years and is among the most popular shows in television history, Ms. Fischer has also acted in popular comedic films, including “Blades of Glory” and the movie musical version of “Mean Girls,” playing the main character’s mother.Sprinkled within her post were jokes and references to her character on “The Office.”“‘Take care of your ticking time bags,’” Ms. Fischer wrote, referencing a quote from Michael Scott, the boss of the paper company Dunder Mifflin in Scranton, Pa., where “The Office” takes place.News of Ms. Fischer’s cancer diagnosis shocked fans, who wrote thousands of supportive messages in the comment section of her Instagram post. Ms. Fischer said she wore wigs to hide her hair loss so that she could keep her diagnosis private until she was ready to share the news.Dr. Cesar Santa-Maria, a medical oncologist and associate professor of oncology at Johns Hopkins, reviewed Ms. Fischer’s post and said she had been diagnosed with an “aggressive subtype of breast cancer.”“But because of the treatments we have now,” Dr. Santa-Maria continued, “it’s the most curable. Twenty years ago? Not the case.”Catching the tumor early on, when it was in Stage 1, was critical for her to have a successful treatment, Dr. Santa-Maria said. Women at average risk for breast cancer should talk to their doctors about getting their annual mammograms beginning at age 40, he added.“Again, don’t skip your mammogram,” Ms. Fischer wrote, reminding her followers that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. She said that Michael Scott “was right. Get ’em checked ladies.” More

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    ‘La Máquina’ Is a Starry Mexican Boxing Drama

    The Spanish-language Hulu drama, starring Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal, skews more loopy and mysterious than gritty.Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal star in the Mexican boxing drama “La Máquina” (in Spanish, with subtitles, on Hulu) as a promoter and his boxer bestie. Andy (Luna), who copes with stress by giving himself facial injections, has been friends with Esteban (García Bernal), the popular boxer known as La Máquina (Spanish for “the machine”), since they were kids. He tends to Esteban’s every need — including fixing a fight or two along the way, without Esteban’s knowledge.Now Esteban is nearing the end of his career in the ring, and he oscillates between avoiding and confronting what boxing has taken from him: his marriage, time with his kids, his physical and psychological well-being.Rather than dig into a gritty realism, “La Máquina” leans toward the loopy and mysterious. Andy is in deep with a bloody, lurking criminal element, though he refers to them only in the vaguest of terms, and he himself does not seem to understand how they operate. Esteban has sustained multiple brain injuries over his career, and now he is hallucinating — which is exacerbated by years of drug and alcohol abuse.There is also a warped strangeness instead of the predictable mobster moves. Evil messages are conveyed through karaoke tracks and spa disasters. Andy and his mother have a bizarre and erotic bond (“Only two men have known how to touch me: You and your father,” she purrs while he rubs her feet), and he has among the most tragic conversations of his life while his face is bubbling in a nasty reaction to his injections. Why have an argument in a bar when you can have it on a slow-turning carousel?Everyone throws a few unexpected punches in “La Máquina,” both in the ring and in harsh disagreements. Andy and Esteban bicker often, and the show is most exciting when the two are ripping into each other, as if the show’s own heart were beating faster, too. Rhythm is a big factor: It’s a boxing show, after all. In one climactic scene, Esteban’s trainer, Sixto (Jorge Perugorría), pushes Esteban toward an emotional breakthrough by asking him rapid-fire questions to the beat of the speed bag. Sixto even sets out a metronome to keep time.Only five of the six episodes were made available to critics for review. The whole series arrives on Wednesday. More