Nicholas Christopher Makes a Splash as Bobby Darin in Broadway’s Just In Time

After a Tony-nominated turn in Chess, Nicholas Christopher is back on Broadway as Bobby Darin in the hit biomusical Just In Time. Known for his booming vocals and dramatic intensity, Christopher gets a chance to flex his triple-threat showmanship in Just In Time. The powerhouse performer spoke with Broadway.com Editor-in-Chief Paul Wontorek about stepping outside his comfort zone and finding himself in Darin’s story.

Though he had previously appeared on Broadway in Hamilton and Sweeney Todd, Christopher’s performance as Anatoly Sergievsky in Chess opposite Lea Michele and Aaron Tveit launched the Bermuda-born talent into stardom. After the production closed in June, Christopher took a well-deserved vacation. “I had a great summer. I didn't want to get up off my couch,” he says. “I went back to Bermuda with my little girls. It was their first time being there. My wife and I finally took our honeymoon. When I came back, I felt ready to approach something else. And this fell into my lap in a glorious way.”

Christopher was initially skeptical upon receiving the offer for Just In Time. "I said, 'Huh? You want me to do what?'" he recalls. "And they said, 'Just go see the show.'" So, he attended a performance with Jeremy Jordan as Darin. “He was just phenomenal. I loved the command that he had over the room," Christopher says. "I loved that we felt like we were sitting in somebody's living room, experiencing this story. As an audience member, I was participating in it in a different way [than] I get to participate in other shows.”

He was particularly drawn to the way Just In Time allows the central performer to speak from their own perspective at certain points. “I loved being able to address the audience as myself. Instead of thinking about, ‘What dialect am I going to use? What culture am I going to dive into with this show?’ It becomes this crisis of who am I and how do I address people; how do I welcome them in and give that audience the same feeling that I got while seeing this show?" Christopher explains.

He opens up about the similarities he sees between himself and Darin. “I don't take any of this for granted," Christopher says. "I do attack every single show like it's going to be my last, because I am so lucky to be here. That's what I have in common with him."

Christopher is also looking forward to showing off a side of himself that audiences may not be familiar with. “I grew up idolizing Ben Vereen and Sammy Davis Jr. I don't know why Martin Short is coming to mind, but Martin Short's very much the song-and-dance man. To be able to get my Gene Kelly fix on a stage is really beautiful and exciting,” he says. He also teases “wearing the tiniest little bikini bottom you ever did see” during the musical number “Splish Splash.” “I was like, ‘We can't add material to that?'" jokes Christopher. “Got to get a good wax.”

Bikini bottom aside, Christopher is embracing the challenge of Just In Time. “I do get impatient about my career. I do fall short in reaching out to my family members, because I am so one-track-minded when it comes to what I love to do. I love being in front of an audience. There is a vulnerability that I'm willing to share onstage that I'm not necessarily willing to share offstage. I get to explore these questions of my own life through Bobby Darin, and I get to really learn something about myself.”

Watch the full interview below!

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