Musical of the Week: Just in Time

We saw Just in Time over the summer (and recorded a podcast about it!), and at intermission, Taylor turned to me and said, “We have to bring my mom for her birthday!” So that's exaxtly what we did last week. Just in Time now joins the shortlist of Broadway shows I’ve seen twice, which, off the top of my head, only includes The Phantom of the Opera and Dear Evan Hansen, which is one hell of a list if I do say so myself. If you ever have to answer trivia questions about me, there's a good answer no one will get.

Our Acela (that’s right, I’m an Acela man) arrived at Moynihan at about 5:00pm on Saturday, so we had a few hours to check into our hotel and grab dinner before the show. We ended up at an Irish pub across the street from Circle in the Square, primarily due to its proximity, and it was a decent spot. It’s a Rangers bar, and we were there for the beginning of the game, but they were only slightly obnoxious. Taylor and I shared the appetizer sampler and some fries, and I got the Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA - which, for whatever reason, you can find everywhere in Manhattan.

Jonathan Groff is as great as ever as Bobby Darin, and is probably single-handedly worth the (quite expensive, as we paid full price) ticket price. He is just such a star, and even though Taylor’s mom rolled her eyes at me, I stand by saying he’s better than Darin. Over the summer, we saw Gracie Lawrence and Erika Henningsen as the ladies in his life, and this time around we got Sarah Hyland and Sadie Dickerson. As for Sarah, all I’ll say is that I never want to hear Gracie Lawrence slander ever again. Sarah’s Modern Family co-star Jesse Tyler Ferguson was there and he seemed to really enjoy her performance, because of course he did. Also, let it be known now that Sadie Dickerson will be a huge star one day. I’m calling it.

After the show, I went to grab us a pizza from our favorite spot, while Taylor and her mom took a $140 pedicab to Times Square so she could show her all the lights at night.

We got back to the hotel around 11:15pm, which was just in time (get it?) to turn on SNL. The show is appointment viewing in our household, and this is the first time I’ve watched the show in New York, which made it a little sweeter. Obviously it’s not the same as watching it in the studio, which I hope to do sooner rather than later, but it was cool to know it was happening like three blocks away. And I got to eat a dollar slice (it’s $1.25 now, but I’ll probably always just call it a dollar) while we watched.

It also didn’t hurt that it’s the best episode of the season so far, after last week’s best episode of the season with Nikki Glaser. Glen Powell might not be the best actor we have, but he’s always game, which is a necessary prerequisite for SNL hosting success. I liked all of the pre-Update stuff (AI Photos, Sebastian Maniscalco, and Bob Army), which is when I almost always head to bed and resign the rest to tomorrow. I thought Olivia Dean sounded great and it was cool to see MacGruber again. A very memorable experience all around!