It’s Groundhog Day. . . Again!
The iconic film has been transformed into a stage musical by Danny Rubin and Tim Minchin, and it’s just fantastic.
Leading characters Phil Connors and Rita Hanson are in the incredibly capable hands of Andy Karl and Elise McCann respectively – two actors who shared divine chemistry on stage.
Andy Karl was such a convincingly cold, uncaring asshole as Phil Connors to begin with, that it was genuinely difficult to believe that eventually – just like in the film – he’d end up with Rita. It even crossed my mind that perhaps that wasn’t how this iteration ends.
But toward the end of act one, and into the beginning of act two, Phil’s growth and development (of course coming about through the gradually swelling chaos of reliving the same day) was impressively portrayed. Emotional, even. . . And satisfyingly heightened.
Image © Jeff Busby
Elise’s Rita was easy to love: always approaching Phil with an open mind and heart, despite his attitude. Her ability to so beautifully handle characters filled with emotional depth on the stage continues here.
‘Groundhog Day’’s staging was a hell of a lot of fun. Smooth, dynamic and effective, scenes came alive with ease – a car chase at the height of Phil’s insanity was a particularly fun ride, using lighting and perspective to wow audiences who responded with rapturous applause.
Then there’s the music – Tim Minchin knows how to write and compose a song. If his ‘Matilda The Musical’ efforts were anything to go by, this would be completely marvellous – and it was.
Image © Jeff Busby
A production like ‘Groundhog Day’, which plays with an interesting, clever premise. . . Is the perfect place for Tim Minchin to be. He’s totally in tune and totally up for the task, creating a soundtrack that captured the chaos of repetition without being annoying, and instead being head-shakingly intelligent.
There’s ‘Stuck’ and ‘Hope’, injected with tongue-in-cheek humour, and then numbers like ‘Everything About You’ and ‘Playing Nancy’ bring the crazy fun to a grinding but beautiful halt. It was a wild ride, like Phil’s adventure, but it’s hard not to love every second.
‘Groundhog Day The Musical’ was a visually astounding, witty, rollicking trip through time, handling an iconic story with love, care, and intelligence to bring it to a new medium.
★★★★★
