Just in Time/ The Three Questions

a theatre experience

Do you mind, I ask my friend, if we stop in this new, tiny, children’s bookshop right near my home that is never open when I am actually near my home? Of course! We have a few hours to kill before meeting her family for a show.

The store, occupying a small office space that shares a hallway with a dental office, sells books for kids in Russian, Ukrainian, and English. It’s all very “New York.” The a/c is amazing so I am taking my time. I pull The Three Questions (based on a story by Leo Tolstoy), by John J Muth off the shelf and explain that the maid-of-honor at another friend’s wedding read this during the ceremony. It’s been on my shelf ever since. I flip to the end of the story where the little boy protagonist finally learns the answers to his three questions. 1) When is the best time to do things? 2) Who is the most important one? 3) What is the right thing to do? Spoiler alert: the wise old turtle wraps it up with…

“Remember then that there is only one important time, and that time is now. The most important one is always the one you are with. And the most important thing is to do good for the one who is standing at your side.”

TLDR; be in the moment.

We then stroll and eat our way down to the theatre district and meet the group for dinner and a show. Just in Time, the Bobby Darin story, appeals to me only because Jonathon Groff (Spring Awakening, Hamilton, Merrily We Roll Along) is starring in it, but I have an open mind about seeing a juke box musical. Maybe I will learn something. Despite reviews that complain about the structure and the writing I find it fun and creative with engaging storytelling, spectacular costumes, and set design that generates the feeling of being in an intimate venue. The curse known as "I've Never Seen Anything I Liked at Circle in the Square Theatre" has finally been broken. Bobby Darin was a bit of a jerk, apparently, but a charming and masterful entertainer. He brought grief to the people who loved him but also joy to millions of others. (We are all good at different things.)

As widely publicized, the lead is incredible- in song, in dance, and especially in his connection with the people watching, the rest of the cast, AND the on-stage band continuously throughout. I can not imagine this isn’t a once in a lifetime performance despite knowing he gives it eight times a week. How can one person have so much to give? And how lucky are we to be there to receive it?

At the end of the show, Jonathon Groff, who starts out as himself before jumping into the role of Bobby Darin, comes back to us again as Groff to thank us all for being there and for sharing this moment with him. He walks through the audience making eye contact with everyone he passes and talks about, using different words, being in the moment. This is it, right here, he says, as he points two fingers at his own eyes and then at the eyes of various audience members. The whole room swoons.

“Every breath we take is a gift we get to open,” he says. He declares that this special moment is already “fading like vapor” and explains that even though they do this show every night, it will always be a little different every time.

He is the wise old turtle and we are the young boy.

Every breath we take is a gift we get to open. Every moment. Be in it.