If you’re seated in the first three rows of Just In Time, bring a poncho or lean into your kink — because Jonathan Groff is doing what he does best: leaving the stage (and you) soaking wet.
The Tony-winning Broadway darling, gay icon, and human geyser has taken his famously fluid stage presence to new heights — or should we say depths — in his latest role as shape-shifting crooner Bobby Darin. But don’t call it just a biopic. This is a full-body experience: equal parts swing, sweat, and sexual tension.
Groff doesn’t just sing Darin’s hits. He seduces them.
And no, he’s not sorry.
“People would ask me to spit in their programs.”
Yes. That happened.
Groff told Deadline that the spit story goes back to Spring Awakening, when fans at the stage door requested autographs — and bodily fluids. “People would ask me to spit in their programs at the stage door because I had spat on them during the show.”
By Hamilton, the dribble had become part of the performance.
“I was spitting but unable to wipe it off my face because my hands were under this giant cape,” Groff said. “When the Disney+ version came out, there are, like, close-ups of me dribbling all over myself.”
Since then, the dampness has gone from accident to asset. “Dan [Radcliffe], Lindsay [Mendez], and I were on our press tour [for Merrily We Roll Along]… we did this lie-detector test interview where I talked about being wet onstage, and it became this whole thing.”
Now? It’s a feature, not a bug. Groff even jokes early in Just In Time about how soaked his co-stars are going to get — and he knows the audience isn’t safe either.
“When I walked downstage [in Little Shop of Horrors], I could really clearly see the first three rows,” Groff recalled. “People were lifting their programs in front of their faces… They covered their faces to keep me from spitting on them.”
Or maybe they were just into it. This is New York, after all.
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“There’s a great deal of sexual tension…”
But Groff’s moistness isn’t just physical — it’s erotic.
Just In Time practically pulses with sensuality, especially in the slow-burn chemistry between Groff and Erika Henningsen, who plays Sandra Dee.
Groff singles out a dance sequence — “Irresistible You” — as the sexiest moment in the show.
“It’s sort of a nod to White Christmas, but at the same time, there’s a great deal of sexual tension because our characters haven’t had sex yet,” he said. “There’s a lot of sexuality being expressed in the dance — kind of a cat and mouse happening.”
Choreographer Shannon Lewis builds that magnetism through body language, subtle touches, and full-bodied movement that talks louder than words. Groff trained for ten weeks to match Darin’s iconic swing with hips that speak volumes.
The result? A groove that lands somewhere between All That Jazz and a Vegas fever dream. “At the end, in the final sequence… I’m standing on a table, doing this kind of showbiz, almost All That Jazz-adjacent movement — with the fans,” he said.
Fans — literal and metaphorical — are eating it up.
“It’s like drugs for me.”
Groff describes one musical climax — “Lazy River” into “Mack the Knife” — as pure euphoria. “It’s like drugs for me. I’m on such a high out there,” he said. “It really is an epic high.”
That phrasing isn’t accidental. There’s something raw and carnal in his performance style, like he’s peeling off clothes with every lyric. Whether he’s belting a power note or teasing the audience with Darin’s seductive swagger, Groff keeps the room just slightly off-balance — aroused, amused, and yes, maybe a little damp.
In the Copacabana-style setup of Circle in the Square, that electricity is palpable. Groff wanted the show to start not with Darin, but with himself — raw, unmasked, and direct.
“We create this invisible thread between performer and audience,” he said. “I’m here to do a show for you — let’s all be here in this present moment now.”
The result? It feels less like watching a musical and more like being seduced in an after-hours cabaret. With Groff, the fourth wall doesn’t just break — it melts.
Broadway’s Horniest Hydration
Groff’s sweaty, spit-slicked legacy has followed him from show to show. He’s not just a Broadway triple threat — he’s Broadway’s dampest threat. And in the queer canon, that counts.
He makes art out of abandon. He turns bodily fluids into a signature. He winks at the gay audience without pandering — and more importantly, he delivers.
So go ahead. Book the front row. Wear something waterproof. Bring a towel. Or don’t.
Because Jonathan Groff didn’t come to stay dry — and frankly, neither did you.
Source: Deadline
Great article! Saw the show May 10th coming back July 12th matinee! Need a sample of the Groffsauce!😍 He’s the best there is on Broadway right now!!