Groundhog Day @ Old Vic Theatre, London
In which I experience my own Groundhog Day at Old Vic Theatre’s production of Groundhog Day… I’m not sure I’ve seen the movie that this Tim Minchin, Danny Rubin and Matthew Warchus raved about musical is based around. Maybe selected highlights — or if I have, I can’t remember it fully. Which was an error on my part.
Slickly produced and delivered with zesty energy, this is the opposite of a family friendly musical as there are adult themes and language. Using screens, some artfully lit backdrops, a minimal set and really cute lit up buildings to suggest the remote small town, we are plunged into Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania which is famous for only one thing. Which is Punxsutawney Phil the local celebrity groundhog deciding whether it will snow or spring this year by whether he sees his shadow or not, or something like that. And the whole town whoops it up by having a massive celebration about this spring prediction, including a community banquet and dance fundraiser.
Bitter, crass and charmless Phil Connors (Andy Karl) is a TV weatherman reporting on the Phil phenomenon and longing to get out of there ASAP. Accompanying him is his producer Rita Hanson (Tanitha Spring) who is Phil’s opposite — where he is chilly and miserable, she is optimistic and hopeful. There is also sweet Larry (Ashlee Irish), the long-suffering and innately kind cameraman. Failing to appreciate small town people doing the best they can and creating mostly cheerful community or the weather powers of celebrity groundhogs, Phil Connors is in for a shock when he tries to flee, is snowed in by a blizzard and wakes up to relive the same day over and over again. What do you do? How do you cope?
Deep self-pity for most of the first half is the answer; followed by crime, hedonism and manipulation. I think, in all honesty, I was hoping for more of a Scrooge like epiphany and transformation — and really that only happens in the last twenty minutes…of Act 2. So, for me, it was a lot of Phil Connors until he began to realise that he needed to act like a human being and start to think of anyone beyond himself and his ego. But it’s more than earning ‘credits’ by doing good works, Phil learns (at last!) that he needs to see opportunities to serve others without expecting anything in return, purely because we need each other and he can. Finally, he stops trying to control Rita and just enjoys the friendship…
But this is the point of Groundhog Day, following the grief cycle (and I hadn’t realised)…So Phil Connors and I got to experience him over and over again, until finally he started looking outside himself to using the time he’d been given, such as learning piano, helping others (including saving a cat and delivering a baby!) and raising money for charity. Most of all, I deeply wanted to shout out ‘Rita — RUN!!!’ at many points as Phil Connors was so unpleasant and unappreciative (and downright scary) for most of their interactions. I just didn’t think it would be healthy for her to hook up with him — ever.
It was a shock as it’s not often I come away really not liking something, and this was based around theme rather than production. Part of it was Phil Connors song about committing suicide in various ways — he was being applauded and whooped at the end. Whilst it is delivered in the form of a ‘I will survive’ anthem, the actual topic is grim and terribly sad. Are we really whooping up about suicide? (Appreciate the heavy irony going on throughout the show and I think it was more about showmanship gospel-style delivery than we wanted him to succeed, but Phil Connors’s character was relentlessly grim and I felt like Bob Cratchit must have felt being in an office with Scrooge day in, day out). So now, not only is the main character worrying me, but us all as an audience. Maybe it was also that he shot the puppet groundhog at one point…
Things to love were the puppetry — a tiny media campervan buzzes across the stage, then is stopped in its tracks by a giant groundhog who dusts it with snow! Back it goes… Puppets are also used cleverly in showing a police car chase during Connors’s crime and debauchery phase (and the cute little lit up model houses fly by at alarming rates), as well as cut out of cars. Even groundhog Phil is a sweet little furry puppet! Phil Connors endless days are shown by his bed — which keeps appearing, again and again and again.
Another good thing is that Rita’s role has been significantly increased and she has some amazing songs to sing as well as reacting in different ways to Phil’s disturbing behaviour. Mostly saying ‘no’ and running. Hooray! Do date the bartender who can make cocktails instead!
To challenge Phil’s letchiness, cheerleader Nancy (Eve Norris) has been given a MeToo-ish song about how she doesn’t want to be stereotyped and she gets charming Larry as her date. All the same, women were fairly stereotyped (even comedically) in this work, and Nancy continued to be seen for all the things she didn’t want to be seen for. Although not by Larry who was a gentleman and genuinely kind.
But I do feel that this is my personal response as the show has been loved, raved about and revived. It is acerbically funny. Andy Karl did a powerhouse performance of singing and then speak-singing, often in his pants! Rita had fabulous boots and the way that the whirling fair ground ride was created was magical. As was all the fake snow, and the seamless integrated music and songs. The giant groundhog was amusing. Phil Connors heading towards existential angst feeling that he was a ‘god’ while remaining inherently miserable and dismal and ranting against all overseeing power was less so. Nevertheless I appreciate that Phil did (in the very end) learn to respect the groundhog and townspeople, improve the local coffee, and love, serve and protect others rather than being so socially gruesome. But it was all in was the last twenty minutes….
