Let's Do The Time Warp Again!

The last six weeks of the calendar year can be tough to negotiate as good will created by end-of-year philanthropy collides with deep-seated misanthropy. Financial pressures, bad weather, stressful relationships, shorter days, substance abuse, bustling crowds, travel delays, domestic violence, and overly perky people can easily get under one's skin. With such miserly totems and poor role models as Ebeneezer Scrooge and Mr. Potter (or, if you prefer, cartoon characters like Scrooge McDuck and Mr. Burns), not everyone loves the holidays.

While some folks ache with feelings of being incomplete, unappreciated, or not having enough material wealth, others are content to open a book or listen to music that brings them the kind of personal satisfaction associated with unconditional love. For introverts like myself, December's emotional pressure cooker offers a yearly opportunity to tune out the incessant din of angry outbursts and advertising jingles in order to sit back, reflect, and recharge our batteries as the rest of the world loudly and proudly runs amok.





For those with scant interest in attending holiday parties, listening to endless Christmas music, being forced to fake seasonal merriment, or feeling pressured to conform, the end of the year provides a rare opportunity for calm introspection as we luxuriate in our solitude and salute the winter solstice while embracing peace and quiet wherever and whenever possible.




Whether one chooses to embrace such seasonal visitors as The Ghost of Christmas Past or Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, messages of hope for brighter days are constantly coming our way. Thanks to the efficiency of social media one can either feel triggered or reassured.

With the New Year already on the horizon, some people's thoughts turn to what they would like to change in their lives. Instead of visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads, some may prefer to focus their wishes on starting a new job, purchasing a new car, finding a new boyfriend, or joining a gym. Unexpected circumstances often throw a wrench into the best-laid plans (many a new gym member loses interest after 60 days). The seasonally lovelorn may feel just as depressed when they find themselves alone on Valentine's Day.

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On rare occasions, Father Time does a splendid job of screwing with singles. In Adam Sandler's 2004 film, 50 First Dates, an exceedingly promiscuous man starts dating a woman who suffers from anterograde amnesia, giving him a rare opportunity to fall in love with the same woman anew on each successive date.


Pittsburgh's resident weatherman, Phil Connors is the kind of supercilious protagonist whose symptoms of occupational burnout are magnified by his selfishness, cynicism, and bitter outlook on life. First introduced to audiences in 1993's Groundhog Day (starring Bill Murray), Connors is the antithesis of Shakespeare's Romeo: a privileged middle-aged man schmuck who wakes up ready to curse people out and tell them to get off his lawn. What is a character who reeks of "Bah, Humbug!" grumpiness doing in a musical? Funny you should ask.

With music and lyrics by Tim Minchin and a book by Danny Rubin, the musical adaptation of the screenplay for Groundhog Day by Rubin and Harold Ramis received its world premiere in 2016 at the Old Vic in London. Not only did Groundhog Day: The Musical win the 2017 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical, its star, Andy Karl, was honored with that year's Olivier Award for Best Actor in A Musical.


The show's transfer to Broadway was delayed until April 17, 2017 but, during a preview performance on Friday, April 14, Karl tore his anterior cruciate ligament and had to perform on opening night using a cane for support. When the musical closed after a disappointing run of only 176 performances, its previously planned 18-month national tour was cancelled.


Luckily for Bay area audiences, among the local theatre people who saw the original Broadway production were the co-founders of San Francisco Playhouse (which subsequently became the first regional theatre company to acquire performance rights to the show). Their production's opening night performance reinforced the idea that Groundhog Day: The Musical is a delightful new holiday entertainment that (although not focused on Christmas) delivers a solid message about how to improve the quality of one's life throughout the year. As the company's artistic director, Bill English, explains:

“For millennia, mankind has searched for hope in the dark of winter. In ancient cultures, humans didn’t know whether spring would ever arrive. There was a pervasive terror that if the gods did not favor us, they might even prevent spring from coming unless they were properly appeased. Early humans had nothing to rely on but prayer and faith. We struggle to see a way out of the messes we’ve made. We struggle to find hope and so we turn to stories to lift our spirits. As Shakespeare’s Richard III said: 'Now is the winter of our discontent.' The perennial chestnut, A Christmas Carol, is the most famous such vehicle of hope in which the irredeemable Scrooge is brought to redemption in time for Christmas. If such a curmudgeon can be saved, anyone can.”

Ryan Drummond (Phil Connors) is trapped in a time warp in
Groundhog Day: The Musical (Photo by: Jessica Palopoli)

“I was a huge fan of Groundhog Day the movie. This story of a man condemned to repeat the same day over and over till he gets it right really struck a chord with me. It was the myth of Sisyphus with a happy ending, a story of redemption very similar to A Christmas Carol in which a total jerk and womanizing TV weather guy sentenced to cover the Groundhog Day festival in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania is miraculously redeemed. The deep magic of the groundhog forces him to live the same day over and over and over and over, forcing him to look at the same men and women he pigeonholes and stereotypes until eventually he sees through his projections to the real human beings beneath. There is a wonderful symmetry represented by the title character, the groundhog. A lowly creature, he comes back up out of his hole every year (at least in our mythical version) and reminds us that, sooner or later, spring will come. He gives us hope and we are comforted by the knowledge that if Scrooge or Phil is capable of change and growth, so are we all.”

Residents of Punxsutawney welcome their favorite weatherman
(Ryan Drummond) in a scene from Groundhog Day: The Musical
(Photo by: Jessica Palopoli)

With costumes by Abra Berman, set design by Edward T. Morris, and lighting by York Kennedy, the Bay Area premiere of Groundhog Day: The Musical has been lovingly directed by Susi Damilano with choreography by Nicole Helfer while music director Dave Dobrusky and sound designer Teddy Hulsker keep the show's score and soundscape finely tuned. Several factors make this musical an ideal choice for San Francisco Playhouse.

• Since moving into the former Post Street Theatre, the company has built a ringed turntable that facilitates quick set changes and dramatic transitions.
• Because there are basically three main characters in Groundhog Day: The Musical, what would normally be considered a chorus opens up a wealth of opportunities for local actors to tackle cameo roles.
• Last, but not least, one of the San Francisco Playhouse's most popular artists, Ryan Drummond, is the perfect choice to play Phil Connors. A hugely versatile and reliable performer, Drummond has exceptional comic timing, a solid singing voice, and can easily handle the character's crankier moments (as well as Phil's vengefully comedic suicide attempts) which lead to Phil's eventual redemption and release from Punxsutawney Phil's peculiar hex.

Scott Taylor-Cole (Gus), Jorge Luis Diaz (Ralph), and
Ryan Drummond (Phil) get drunk in a scene from
Groundhog Day: The Musical (Photo by: Jessica Palopoli)

Drummond receives strong support from Rinabeth Apostol as his television station's producer (and potential love interest) as well as Dean Linnard, who portrays Ned Ryerson. The wide variety of local citizens are represented by Jorge Luiz Diaz, Kathryn Hannah, Sophia Introna, Larissa Kelloway, Cameron La Brie, Anthony Rollins-Mullins, Montel Anthony Nord, Loreigna Sinclair, Michael Gene Sullivan, and Scott Taylor-Cole.

Ryan Drummond as Phil Connors and Dean Linnard as
Ned Ryerson in a scene from Groundhog Day: The Musical
(Photo by: Jessica Palopoli)

By the time Phil works through enough iterations of Groundhog Day to realize that the only way out of this trap is stop being a major asshole, instead of falling in love with his co-worker, Rita, he's willing to take baby steps toward exploring the possibility of being honest and intimate with another person.

Ryan Drummond (Phil) and Rinabeth Apostol (Rita) in a scene
from Groundhog Day: The Musical (Photo by: Jessica Palopoli)

I was deeply impressed by Minchin's musical and thankful for a chance to experience it in live performance. Thanks to Damilano, her cast, and crew, it seems obvious that Groundhog Day: The Musical could also be an ideal choice for one of the company's summer shows. I sincerely hope San Francisco Playhouse plans a revival within the next five years.

Performances of Groundhog Day: The Musical continue through January 18 at San Francisco Playhouse (click here for tickets). You can listen to the show's original Broadway cast recording on the following playlist: