I put my musical playlist on shuffle the other day, only to be greeted with 'If I Had My Time Again' from Groundhog Day. It's one musical that has really resinated with me and honestly it's been slept on.
Groundhog Day the musical made its debut in the Old Vic, summer of 2016 in London and opened on Broadway in the August Wilson Theatre on the 17th of April 2017. And sadly I wasn't able to see it before it closed. The show ran for 5 months closing on the 17th of September the same year. With only 176 performances I'll argue that's not enough for the musical to really make an impact on enough people. The moment I heard that overture I knew it was going to be amazing. What I wasn't excepting though was for this Broadway cast recording to give me a new outlook on how I live and what I do with my life. Sadly a bootleg production will never compare to the actual production is still proves one of my fave musicals.
'Playing Nancy' struck a chord with me, as a young women I can't help but relate to objectification (not to this extent). But it's evident that many young women face similar problems with self esteem and self worth in their daily lives. Nancy is an encapsulation of these feelings so even though I think her character isn't very established, her song gives so much depth.
I can't help but find myself singing along to 'Hope' in the most "dire" of times. This song even though incredibly morbid still holds a hum worthy tune that keeps me motivated in times of need. Tim Minchin honestly captures drilling persistence in this song, after listening to it I get so hyped I could run a marathon. And I don't run. That's saying something.
The principle of time being limited, this show (just like the movie) opens people's eyes to their usage in accordance to the short amount of time we have on Earth. Andy Karl's portrayal of Phil Connors is perfect, yet no less brilliant than Bill Murray's portrayal in the 1993 film. Phil is the perfect example of an modern adaption of EveryMan - referencing the morality play. This just makes him all the more relatable for audiences as they can find parts of themselves in his development and self discovery.
I believe Groundhog Day would be pretty successful in Australia, mainly because we adored Tim's writing talents shown by our outpouring of love for his previous show Matilda. We need more shows that don't mind taking the piss out of themselves and that can delve into the deeper topics of life, I think this show does a great job at doing just that. But also I feel there is so much meaning to be interpreted from his lyrics and the message to make the most of the time we've got.
And Groundhog Day has certainly done the most with the time they've had. I'm sure we'll see this show back around very soon.
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