• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Film/TV/Stream
  • Republicans
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Men
  • Trans Rights
  • Tech/Science
  • Royals
  • Monkeypox

In ‘Groundhog Day’ Musical, Not Every Day Is Worth Reliving: REVIEW

Naveen Kumar April 18, 2017 Leave a Comment

4937

The most satisfying moment in Groundhog Day, an ambitious but disjointed new musical that opened last night at the August Wilson Theatre, comes when Phil, its smarmy weatherman protagonist, finally takes a knee to the groin.

The well-deserved blow is delivered by Rita (a lovely Barrett Doss), Phil’s producer who — along with the rest of us — has spent the first hour of the show wondering how any man could be so egotistical, misogynistic, and deluded about his own importance, all based on a two-bit TV gig.

Sound familiar?

4929

Phil, as played by a tireless but too-handsome Andy Karl, is essentially white male privilege personified. If, for whatever reason, watching him bristle and turn his nose up at a funhouse parody of small-town America doesn’t sound like a great time to you, you may want to sit out act one — Groundhog Day’s perfectly enjoyable second half might even make more sense to you that way.

Besides, you’re likely familiar with the plot of Harold Ramis’ 1993 comedy, adapted for the stage here by its co-writer Danny Rubin. Phil, a big city weatherman from Pittsburgh, travels to report on Groundhog’s Day from Punxsutawney, PA, where winds up reliving that same bizarre holiday over and over. Bewilderment ensues, then recklessness, despondency, and benevolence, before love finally sets Phil free.

4936

But unlike Bill Murray’s character in the movie — a deadpan average Joe with a chip on his shoulder — Karl’s Phil is a hunk, and he knows it. His libido quickly becomes act one’s driving narrative force (among his first gripes upon waking up in this shit town is his “pointless erection”).

This Phil is used to having any woman he wants and turns his personal time warp into a chase for tail, first setting his sights a local named Nancy (Rebecca Faulkenberry), before moving on to Rita (and, as we learn in a later aside, the rest of the town).

Rita, for her part, is not so easily won. Thirtysomething and career-focused, she’s circumspect about the fairy-tale idea of romance she was fed as a girl, even while admitting she wouldn’t mind if her prince came along. It’s to the show’s credit that Rita, and even Nancy, who opens the second act with a curiously placed number about always playing the pretty one, voice their own desires, even if only to pay them lip service.

4930

Fortunately for Rita (and for us), Phil returns from intermission a changed man. After a suicide montage marks his breaking point, suddenly Phil is using his powers for good, bent on making everyone’s day and unwittingly turning into Rita’s ideal man in the process.

That it’s impossible to trace this man back to the jerk we met at the top of the show is a stark discontinuity, but boy, is it a blessing. Rita and reformed Phil’s recurring 24-hour love story becomes one to root for, however much you enjoyed the aforementioned shot to his crotch.  

4932

Once the show lurches past its repetitive and busy setup, the pleasures of director Matthew Warchus’ imaginative staging are easier to appreciate. Though the crammed-together facades of Rob Howell’s ever-shifting set are more provincial Europe than small-town America, the elaborate physical production conjures delightful bits of stage magic in tune with the plot’s bizarro premise (though the performance I attended had to pause for technical trouble).

Fluid and at times fantastical choreography by Peter Darling and Ellen Kane bring the dream-like vibe into the bodies of the performers. Composer-lyricist Tim Minchin, who also collaborated with Warchus on Matilda The Musical, delivers a buoyant and satisfying score that likewise takes off once freed from its initial broken-record mode.

The London-born production, which won the Olivier for Best New Musical just last week, presents a distinctly British take on the American cult film, and, perhaps incidentally, an indicting view of our culture — a leading man all swagger and entitlement, out of his element among grating and cartoonish working class townies. Ultimately, it’s all in good fun, if maybe a little too close to home.

Recent theatre features…
Harvey Fierstein Imparts Bittersweet Gay History in ‘Gently Down the Stream’ – REVIEW
Patti Lupone and Christine Ebersole Go Head-to-Head in ‘War Paint’ Musical on Broadway: REVIEW
Divine British Comedies Deliver Escape on Broadway in ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ and ‘Present Laughter’: REVIEW
‘Miss Saigon’ Is Back on Broadway, Older But None the Wiser: REVIEW
Jake Gyllenhaal and Glenn Close Are Slaying Broadway — and Resurrecting This Double Standard 
Sally Field Is Starring in ‘The Glass Menagerie’ on Broadway — and You’ll Really Like Her: REVIEW
‘Come From Away’ Is the Rousing 9/11 Musical You Could Not Have Predicted: REVIEW

Follow Naveen Kumar on Twitter: @Mr_NaveenKumar (photos: joan marcus)

Topics: Music, Theater, towleroad, Travel More Posts About: Entertainment, Matthew Warchus, Naveen Kumar, Tim Minchin

Related Posts
  • Gay Volcanic Wedding; Lena Waithe; Ricky Martin; Special; Willow Smith; Marvel Pride; The Last of Us; Chelsea Manning: HOT LINKS
  • Report: Popular Video Game Valorant Rumored to be Adding LGBTQ Pride Items in June
  • Theater Stars Mix and Match Genders in Annual ‘Broadway Backwards’ Benefit, Virtual Edition WATCH Free Until April 3.
  • Gay Man Tells Co-Worker to Stop Talking to Him About Her Pregnancy: ‘I Don’t Care’

    Gay Man Tells Co-Worker to Stop Talking to Him About Her Pregnancy: ‘I Don’t Care’

      Published by PopCrush   A man took to Reddit explaining he became frustrated after his co-worker began oversharing about her pregnancy with him. At first he didn’t mind talking to her about her pregnancy, but …Read More »
  • Biles, Denzel Washington, Rapinoe among winners of top US honor

    Biles, Denzel Washington, Rapinoe among winners of top US honor

    Published by AFP Simone Biles competing on the vault at the 2016 P&G Gymnastics Championships in St. Louis, Missouri Washington (AFP) – Gymnastics star Simone Biles, actor Denzel Washington and the late tech visionary Steve Jobs …Read More »
  • Trump thought marching to Capitol with rioting supporters would be ‘a dramatic made-for-TV moment’: report

    Trump thought marching to Capitol with rioting supporters would be ‘a dramatic made-for-TV moment’: report

    Published by Raw Story By Brad Reed A new report from the Washington Post provides more details about former President Donald Trump’s desire to match to the Capitol with supporters who would subsequently illegally break into …Read More »
  • In Switzerland, first same-sex couples say “I do”

    In Switzerland, first same-sex couples say “I do”

    Published by Reuters By Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi and Arnd Wiegmann SCHAFFHAUSEN, Switzerland (Reuters) – Alois Carnier, 57, and Peter Leu, 67, said “wholeheartedly, I do” to each other on Friday as same-sex marriages became legal in …Read More »
Previous Post: « Trump Attacks GA Democrat Jon Ossoff as GOP Faces Threat in Special Election Today: WATCH
Next Post: These Kilted Coaches Will Squeeze Your Glutes into Shape: WATCH »

Primary Sidebar

News

  • Horseshoe crabs: ‘Living fossils’ vital for vaccine safety

    Horseshoe crabs: ‘Living fossils’ vital for vaccine safety

  • ‘A Disgusting Sight In Any Case’: Vladimir Putin Fires Back After G7 Leaders Joke About His Infamous Horse-Riding Picture

    ‘A Disgusting Sight In Any Case’: Vladimir Putin Fires Back After G7 Leaders Joke About His Infamous Horse-Riding Picture

  • Russia abandons Snake Island in victory for Ukraine

    Russia abandons Snake Island in victory for Ukraine

RSS Partner Links

  • Rebel Wilson confesses she’s “lost all control” while on holiday at an all-inclusive resort
  • Saturday Round-Up: Danny Roberts; Andrew Ahn; Tessa Thompson; Billy Porter; Elliot Page; Dan Jervis & more!
  • Saturday 'Stache
  • Kathryn Gallagher Releases New Song 'Read It In The Paper' About Finding Out an Ex Was Engaged
  • Amanda Bynes Ditches Bright Yellow Hair for a Lighter Blonde Look (New Photos)
  • DM: The Palace buried the bullying inquiry to protect the ‘defensive’ Sussexes
  • “Brie Larson’s social media presence is a bit lonely and offbeat” links

Most Recent

  • Mac Engel Column: WNBA player speaks honest truth about Brittney Griner: ‘If this was Shaq, he’d be home’

    Mac Engel Column: WNBA player speaks honest truth about Brittney Griner: ‘If this was Shaq, he’d be home’

  • Gay Man Tells Co-Worker to Stop Talking to Him About Her Pregnancy: ‘I Don’t Care’

    Gay Man Tells Co-Worker to Stop Talking to Him About Her Pregnancy: ‘I Don’t Care’

  • Biles, Denzel Washington, Rapinoe among winners of top US honor

    Biles, Denzel Washington, Rapinoe among winners of top US honor

  • Trump thought marching to Capitol with rioting supporters would be ‘a dramatic made-for-TV moment’: report

    Trump thought marching to Capitol with rioting supporters would be ‘a dramatic made-for-TV moment’: report

  • In Switzerland, first same-sex couples say “I do”

    In Switzerland, first same-sex couples say “I do”

  • Valkyrie’s sexuality was a big topic of conversation, says Tessa Thompson

    Valkyrie’s sexuality was a big topic of conversation, says Tessa Thompson

  • ‘Soft’ playwright Donja R. Love uses his own HIV+ diagnosis to illuminate his theatrical work

    ‘Soft’ playwright Donja R. Love uses his own HIV+ diagnosis to illuminate his theatrical work

  • Analysis-After abortion, conservative U.S. justices take aim at other precedents

    Analysis-After abortion, conservative U.S. justices take aim at other precedents

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy
[towleroadmr] [towleroadtn]

Footer

Copyright © 2022 · Log in