Tomorrow is Groundhog Day, Now is the best time to look into cast album of this 2017 movie based musical. The plot follows the popular 90's comedy about Phil Connors he is trapped in a never-ending loop, repeating Groundhog Day for what seems like forever in the small town of Punxsutawney, Among the antics, he engages with the locals and grows to love simplicity, and even falls in love, learning to be more content . This rendition does modernize the story, placing it in modern times, adding cell phones and social media.
The first thing that must be addressed is that this musical is very crass, this is not targeted towards families, so if you plan on looking into this album, maybe because you love the film, make sure you have some headphones.
This show tries doing something similar to " Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat" where the songs are multiple genres of music. Sometimes it fits, and sometimes not so much sometimes the genres don't mix well as some songs try changing styles mid song. The comedy of the show mixes well at some points, I found myself chuckling every now and again. Due to the nature of the plot, similar lyrics or musical themes will repeat and can prove to be effective. One thing I must commend this show on is the use of the ensemble, everyone uses them adds more to the song, and many some of the songs even more memorable. The whole cast does wonderful, it's not the performers it's sometimes the lyrics are a tad rough around the edges. I think this musical could benefit with some edits and rewrites, also maybe toning down the crass jokes and language, then maybe high schools and civic theaters would be more open to performing it. I try to find at least a song I like in a musical, I believe that a lot of hard work goes into creating, making and staging them in every aspect, that even the worst shows have something of quality in them. Even if it's only one scene or song. It's interesting because the lyrics stay the same but the style of music changes, I will say that some sytles work better then others.
This is a show that I did not find myself pressing repeat on many songs, but I see some quality in it, I just think it is rough around the edges, this show also is very pessimistic in many parts, there are blips of optimism but more so later on. The music does show that Phil does have character growth, and becomes less selfish as the show continues. There were many times that I did feel taken out from a song because they tried adding a joke, so I do wish that they pulled back slightly in some points, to have some character driven moments. The character moments that are left as just character moments are some of the best lines in the show. Again I will emphasize all the performers did amazing, and the ensemble is so well used, so even though I didn't love every song. You may enjoy some more than me, this blog has always been purely my opinion, here are the songs that I did enjoy adding to my playlist.
Day One (L)
One Day (L)
Playing Nancy (L)
If I Had My Time Again (L)
Night WIll Come
Seeing You
So even though this list is shorter then past reviews there are some parts I genuinely enjoyed, I would consider seeing this performed live at a civic theater, but it is not on the top of my list when it comes to shows I want to see. Again I think rewrites could maybe do this show some good, and maybe produce a linger run, some ideas could be cut down, and others expanded. Thank you very much for reading this. have a happy Groundhog day and I hope your day is a showstopper.
Sources:
Groundhog Day The Musical ( Wikipedia)
Groundhog Day The Musical Orginal Cast Album
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