Video: Nicole Scherzinger and Jonathan Groff Discuss Patti LuPone's Approval & More
The conversation was part of Variety's Actors on Actors series.
By: Josh Sharpe Apr. 25, 2025
Broadway powerhouses Jonathan Groff and Nicole Scherzinger are paired together in the latest entry in Variety's Actor on Actors series. During their conversation, the duo talked about Scherzinger's long run as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, what it was like for her to get Patti LuPone's approval, and how Groff brought Bobby Darin to the stage in Just in Time.
"Thank God I didn’t know she was there," Schertzinger said of LuPone's visit to a performance of Sunset. "The next day, I heard her interview on Frank DiLella’s podcast, and I was like, 'Patti saw the show? What show?' I couldn’t believe we had her seal of approval. She was so kind and generous... I have a picture of her and Glenn Close, obviously, in my dressing room to inspire me."
On Just in Time, Groff explained his "need" to do the show after his introduction to Bobby Darin's music. "I sat for four hours at dinner with Dodd, Bobby’s son, and I was like, 'I’m feeling this thing.' You can’t manufacture the feeling when you know in your gut there’s something you’re called to do. After the first preview, I burst into tears."
Scherzinger also revealed that, despite her many performances of Sunset Boulevard both on the West End and Broadway, she maintains the attitude of "the show must go on," rarely missing a performance. "I’ve never called out on a West End show, and I hadn’t called out on a Broadway show until this last week. I am normally bulletproof. I’ve been offstage, puked, come right back onstage. At 8:30 that night, I was like, 'I think I can do it.' It really killed me to finally call out."
The Broadway production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard, starring Nicole Scherzinger, is running through July 13 at the St. James Theatre. Just in Time is a new musical featuring Jonathan Groff as singer Bobby Darin. The show will officially open Saturday, April 26, at the Circle in the Square Theatre.
The annual Actors on Actors series, which arrives during awards season, selects two stars from major films (and now Broadway shows) for in-depth interviews diving into their experience on their respective projects, career discussion, awards talk, and more.
The final video in the 2025 Broadway edition, featuring Cole Escola (Oh, Mary) and Darren Criss (Maybe Happy Ending), will drop Saturday, April 26.
