The musical “Groundhog Day”, based on the 1993 film of the same name, and adapted for the stage by Danny Rubin and Tim Minchin, tells the story of weatherman Phil Connors (Andy Karl) as he gets stuck in a time loop, reliving the same day again and again.
The day in question is, of course, Groundhog Day – a celebration in the small US town of Punxsutawney, where residents gather to see a famous groundhog (also called Phil) predict the future, and foretell when winter will come to an end. Phil Connors finds the entire charade a little daft, insulting the townspeople and mocking the event, counting down the hours until he can leave Punxsutawney and cover some more interesting news stories. Delayed by a storm, however, he finds himself stuck in Punxsutawney – and when he wakes up the next day, he finds that it’s Groundhog Day again, and he is forced to relive the same events.
This means that the play keeps restarting from the same point (namely, Phil, in bed, being woken up by his alarm clock), with each day a slight variant on the previous as Phil makes different decisions and takes different paths, a little bit like replaying a video game level again and again. As this is a musical, this means the songs often repeat themselves (three of the songs are literally called “Day One”, “Day Two” and “Day Three”), but each time in a slightly different style, or sped up/slowed down.
As the days go on, Phil’s decisions vary more and more from the original path, allowing for different songs, including “Stuck” (where Phil receives some questionable medical advice) and “Nobody Cares” (where Phil goes on a drunken rampage with alcoholics Ralph and Larry – Nick Hayes and Ashlee Irish respectively). The latter song is especially imaginative, bringing to life a car chase with the help of some very clever lighting effects and remote control cars! Minchin’s lyrics are funny, imaginative and genius, as is to be expected after his roaring success with Matilda: The Musical.
The story has plenty of comedic moments, as Phil begins to try to find the best way to seduce his co-worker Rita (Tanisha Spring). Each time he messes up, he has another chance, but each time, something doesn’t quite go to plan.
The play takes a darker turn in the second half, with Phil becoming depressed and experimenting with different methods of suicide. Some clever stage trickery and sleight-of-hand sees Phil “dying” in various ways only to reappear seconds later in the bed to live another Groundhog Day. Eventually, after a conversation with Rita, Phil realises that he can make the most of his time in Punxsutawney by helping those around him.
This is where the set-up really begins to pay off. The significantly sized cast have all spent time creating lots of different townspeople, which all become important in these later scenes – Phil tries to save the life of a homeless man, helps a young couple get engaged, teaches a woman to sing, and even helps his cameraman to build his confidence to ask someone out on a date. And by doing all this, Rita’s opinion of Phil is greatly altered, and she ends up falling in love with him without him even trying.
This production is technically brilliant, with every piece of scenery and every actor coming together at the right time in what must be a very confusing jigsaw to put together in rehearsals, but which looks fantastic on the stage. The show lacks any particularly memorable songs, or major ballads – the only one that sticks in my mind was the song “Playing Nancy” (performed beautifully by Eve Norris), which explored how the character had only been included to further Phil’s character development rather than as a character in her own right. Although perhaps the reason this stuck with me was more for the fact that it broke the fourth wall and was unlike the other songs, rather than any particularly memorable lyrics or tune.
This is a show the could end up feeling repetitive, but doesn’t, thanks to the character progression and the impressive acting skills of Andy Karl, who is able to make the audience root for a character that is, essentially, unlikeable at the beginning of the play. A show that I could watch again… and again…. and again.
Tom Morley, July 2023
Broken Legs Blog 