4 Main Problems Stopped Me Loving GROUNDHOG DAY (Review - Old Vic Theatre London 2023)

[@warnerr1074]

I have never so strongly disagreed with a review lol

[@subbtopp]

I loved this show thought it was incredibly creative and brilliantly performed. sorry you had a bad time.

[@JonSilverUK]

So you completely missed the fact that Nancy ended up dancing in the snow looking really happy with Larry, a guy more her age group who would have felt like he was out of her league if Phil, during his epiphany, hadn’t engineered a way around his insecurity and Nancy’s low self esteem to get them together at the ball. That’s why her song is so important, because it not only sets the scene for Phil’s awakening in act 2 but also begins to establish the notion that the townspeople aren’t just scenery.

[@milo-theatre]

really happy *with Larry* ; her happiness is still dependent on a man being with her, as I mentioned. Also an entire song opening act 2 leading to a moment of dancing in the snow isn't really character development. Just look at how many scenes she speaks in after her song and what she says; her plot arc it literally just "another guy likes me now"

[@JonSilverUK]

@@milo-theatre on the contrary, it’s not about her happiness depending on a man, more about people searching for fulfilment on an equal footing rather than just feeling they’re being used for someone else’s. The whole story is about learning to truly see people, and what’s special about life, however mundane.

[@milo-theatre]

@@JonSilverUK right - her no longer "being used" is great; but that's growth for the men of the town, not for her, right? I just wish she had been able to be a person in her own right that realised that being in a relationship wasn't the literal only thing worth focusing on

[@JonSilverUK]

@@milo-theatre welcome to village life! Sometimes getting into a relationship with someone from out of town with new attitudes and a different perspective is the best highway to a new life. And that’s what Larry represents for Nancy… a possible new beginning to end her own personal never-ending Groundhog Day. Life can be more fulfilling when you have someone to share it all with and show you the joy in everything life has to offer.

[@linglingsapprentice7762]

I think the importance of the song is the change in tone between act 1 and 2. When I watched it. (I didn’t have the best seats. But the sound was pretty great.) But I could hear people getting the fact that act 2 was going to be darker and that’s because of how playing Nancy played out.

[@MuzzyBarker]

I feel like you don't understand Playing Nancy and your assumption of what it's meant to be made it difficult to appreciate it. Keep in mind that, thematically, Playing Nancy isn't that different from Nobody Cares, aside from the crazy chase at the end. Both are songs that look at secondary characters dealing with nihilism in a pretty resigned way. In both songs, the characters aren't asking for things to be different. They're accepting things as they are. This is in direct contrast to Phil's angrily raging against his new reality for most of the show. It isn't meant to be a set-up for Nancy to become a major character. It's an acknowledgement that the minor characters are dealing with shit, too. Despite Phil's angry lamentations, he isn't the only one suffering in this world. He just happens to be the protagonist. Nobody else gets to leave their stasis, because it's not their battle. It's someone else's.

[@yeetyoottootyt8860]

sorry but i have to disagree the writing and score and set for this musical is incredible and is arguably the best show in the west end at the moment

[@JG-uu1oj]

Oh Honey I'm sorry you couldn't appreciate it...

[@nm1673]

I had a decent seat in the dress circle for this show and also had issues with the muddiness of the sound (or basically the band just being too loud sometimes). It is a testament to this excellent production that I still rate it as my current must-see show in London, despite the sound in the theatre.

[@Dylan8888888888]

I had really high expectations going into this, one review I watched before seeing it said it was the perfect second acts to a musical. I enjoyed it a lot tbf, I’ve only watched the film but I think this is better than Matilda. Don’t think it’s going to return soon unfortunately. It was my first time at the Old Vic as well, don’t recall having any issues understanding anything other than for the song Stuck but I might have forgot it by now. I had a more side view with first seat of the row near front of stalls so might be why I didn’t notice the delay in sound? Felt like Nancy and Ned were going to be given bigger roles after their solo songs in act 2, guessing they didn’t due to time constraints? Maybe their characters could have been combined with other characters from act 2, like Nancy could have been the piano teacher to show there’s more to her than just her looks. I also interpreted Nancy getting with another man at the end as as this is finally someone who doesn’t just want to use her temporarily as a distraction or to use her as an object but be with her for who she is. Also, Nobody Cares wasn’t my favourite song, but had some of my favourite staging in any show with the fake car and prop cars driving around the town. I enjoyed it a lot.

[@bevhowell7665]

It was amazingly funny great timing. I loved it

[@Sabrinajaine]

I had the same issue with sound, I couldn't pick up much of what Andy Karl was singing in his opening song

[@berlinflight_tv]

Strange thing about the sound - when I watched the show at The Old Vic, I had a similar seat to the one you're describing, and I had no problems understanding any of it. Not sure if that's because I already knew the show rather well before I went or if you were very unlucky about the mix on that particular performance. While I love the show and had a much better overall experience watching it, I agree that the first act has pacing issues. Personally, I think it could be shortened a bit (e.g., by cutting a verse or two of "Nobody Cares"). However, I also would have placed the act break slightly later in the story. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but I wonder if it wouldn't work to start act 2 with "Hope". The scene before that is the tipping point that changes the tone of the show and might be a good cliffhanger. On the other hand, maybe it'd be too dark a moment to end an act on. "Playing Nancy" is my least favourite song, too, for pretty much the same reasons you cited. I also think that it might be at least partially supposed to be a musical theatre in-joke: It's very common for musicals to open act 2 with a story-irrelevant number - and this song may be intended to push that to the limit. If that's the case, though, then it's a joke that mostly falls flat with the audience.

[@cherbibler3265]

I love getting your perspective, it's so different than other reviews I watch.

[@nisha7572]

If you loved the set, and thought that was impressive, the original set would have blown you out of the theatre. It had 4 or 5 revolves and a huge screen in the backdrop. Sorry the sound was bad when you went. PS - I agree with Playing Nancy, it's not well placed.

[@andrewstorm8240]

Agree - felt an average show

[@watermelon1835]

Yes!!! Nancy's song felt so out of place (and quite dull). So much so, I felt some dread when the insurance man started singing, thinking it'd be another meaningless song. I was also itching for the interval to come - it felt like a very long wait. But otherwise, I did think it was a worthwhile musical to watch and it felt very unique. I also really enjoyed most of the music and script, even though there weren't any ear worms. I wouldn't be able to sing back anything from it, and I only left the theatre 4 hours ago lol The one thing you didn't mention (which isn't a fault of the musical itself to be fair) is how uncomfortable the Old Vic is! I'm not sure if it was just the seating in the top tier, but it was difficult for anyone to relax as you were all shoulder-to-shoulder and thigh-to-thigh, with tiny armrests that should be called elbow-rests. I think that added to the fatigue that act 1 brought, as it was deeply uncomfortable sitting there.