Nicholas Christopher Goes From Chess to Bobby Darin on Broadway

Tony nominee Nicholas Christopher is back on Broadway, now starring as Bobby Darin in the hit biomusical Just In Time. The role follows his acclaimed performance as Anatoly Sergievsky in Chess, which closed in June.

Broadway.com Editor-in-Chief Paul Wontorek interviewed the performer about stepping outside his comfort zone and finding himself in Darin's story. Christopher, known for his booming vocals and dramatic intensity, told Wontorek that Just In Time gives him the chance to flex his triple-threat showmanship.

Who is Nicholas Christopher?

The Bermuda-born performer had already appeared on Broadway in Hamilton and Sweeney Todd before Chess elevated his profile. His turn as Anatoly Sergievsky, opposite Lea Michele and Aaron Tveit, launched him into stardom and earned him a Tony nomination.

When Chess closed in June, Christopher stepped away from the stage. He described a summer devoted entirely to rest and family.

"I had a great summer. I didn't want to get up off my couch," he said. "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."

What does the casting change for Christopher?

The move from Chess to Just In Time marks a shift in register. Where Anatoly Sergievsky demanded dramatic intensity, Bobby Darin requires the full triple-threat package: singing, dancing and the swagger of a mid-century showman.

Christopher did not accept the offer immediately. He was skeptical when the invitation to play Darin first arrived.

"I said, 'Huh? You want me to do what?'" he recalls. "And they said, 'Just go …'"

His hesitation gives way, in the finished production, to a performance that Broadway.com describes as a splash. The part places Christopher at the center of a hit biomusical, carrying a leading role less than a year after his breakthrough nomination season.

For audiences, the casting pairs a vocalist built for Darin's songbook with a performer still early in his leading-man career. Christopher's own framing suggests he sees the overlap clearly: he told Wontorek he found himself in Darin's story, even as the role pushed him beyond the zone where Chess and Sweeney Todd had established him. How far that push takes him will shape what he does next.