Groundhog Day halted last night

Hi all,

At last nights performance they (SPOILERS AHEAD) started the car chase scene and when the police sirens went on we heard an announcement say "and hold please. All actors please leave the stage". One performer said "we're driving here", and another said " there's a Dunkin Donuts on the corner. Then a black curtain came down and a minute later they announced there would be a 5 minute pause due to technical difficulties. Apparently the turntable was stuck when the car was supposed to turn.

10 minutes later they announced they were going to restart the scene which works perfectly since it's Groundhog Day. The audience went wild. The voice thanked everyone for their patience and the scene restarted.

The actors said the line about going for a drive and they all said "again" which got a lot of laughs and applause. When the music started for the chase scene the audience was clapping along and cheering.

The rest of the show went off without a hitch and kudos to Andy for performing with a cold. His voice cracked on the high note but he gave an outstanding performance. What a magical evening to be a part of!

I don't get the clapping,yelling and cheering after a tech hold. At Newsies last Sunday there was a hold because the mics weren't working. A few minutes later the show started back up to no crazy applause,yelling or cheering.

What the stage management team at Groundhog Day is doing night after night blows my mind. From a technical standpoint, that show is so incredibly intricate... I can't even imagine. Mad props!

mailhandler777 said: "I don't get the clapping,yelling and cheering after a tech hold. At Newsies last Sunday there was a hold because the mics weren't working. A few minutes later the show started back up to no crazy applause,yelling or cheering.



It's just showing support for the crew and cast. GHD is so technically complicated and relies so much on everything aligning so perfectly, I'm sure they go into panic mode and are a bit thrown off when something goes wrong that causes a delay, and that's the audience's way of saying "It's cool, we get it, we are not upset." It's live theater!

Updated On: 6/26/17 at 12:13 AM

greenifyme2 said: "mailhandler777 said: "I don't get the clapping,yelling and cheering after a tech hold. At Newsies last Sunday there was a hold because the mics weren't working. A few minutes later the show started back up to no crazy applause,yelling or cheering.

It's just showing support for the crew and cast. GHD is so technically complicated and relies so much on everything aligning so perfectly, I'm sure they go into panic mode and are a bit thrown off when something goes wrong that causes a delay, and that's the audience's way of saying "It's cool, we get it, we are not upset." It's live theater!"

Also, it makes the show more special, particularly when there are fun ad libs from the actors.

I'll also add my kudos to the stage management and tech crew for GHD. I can only imagine the amount of time it took in tech to work out the staging so that the turntables would end up in the right position to go from one cue to the next. And now, to maintain them, especially on two show days can't be easy. (And this is not to say that crews of other shows don't work equally hard.)

I would love to watch the show from backstage to see how it's all choreographed. Of course, I'd just be in the way, so I wouldn't really, but I'm always intrigued by the inner workings of productions.

Marway44 - Thanks for posting about what happened. I saw mentions of a tech issue on Twitter, but no details.

10086 Sunday's- I didn't see anything on Twitter about what happened. Happy to share the details though. It just shows you how amazing everyone from actor to backstage in this show really is.

Updated On: 6/26/17 at 04:41 AM

JustAnotherNewYorker said: "Marway44 said: "10086 Sunday's- I didn't see anything on Twitter about what happened. Happy to share the details though. It just shows you how amazing everyone from actor to backstage in this show really is. "

If you search you can find a number of posts about this happening before opening. My understanding from talking to cast and crew is that it's usually the same issue.

If it's usually the same issue that could explain how they came up with the adlibs on the fly like that. It seemed so natural the way they just got up out of the car that my wife swore it was part of the show until the woman behind us told us it did not happen with Andy's understudy last night.

I still got to hand it to Andy. Performing with a cold and pulling it off with an amazing, outstanding, Tony Award winning performance! I know his day will come, hopefully sooner than later,

Updated On: 6/27/17 at 12:11 PM

I was in the audience too on Saturday night and they had a couple of issues with the snowfall cues as well - in One Day and in Seeing You.

I can't imagine how complex it is behind the scenes. I think I read somewhere that Warchus estimated he had spent at least 300 hours working out the math on the rotations to get everything and everyone where they needed to be for each cue.

That was well said Malka2 about the audience still being there with you. That's how I took it.

The thing that I can't believe is that they could not be recognized with even one Tony for anything. Doesn't anyone else think they should have received a Tony and if so for what?

Marway44 said: "That was well said Malka2 about the audience still being there with you. That's how I took it.

The thing that I can't believe is that they could not be recognized with even one Tony for anything. Doesn't anyone else think they should have received a Tony and if so for what?



Set design. TGC's theater design is stunning but GHD's is insanely complex.

Honestly, I don't think the average tourist theater-goer cares about the Tony awards. In my eyes, it can kind of be viewed like the Oscars - the weirdest, often depressing movies that the critics favor win the awards while other great movies that the masses prefer don't get recognized. I personally don't know anyone that comes to town specifically for Broadway shows. They come for another reason and decide to try to get something at the last minute as an afterthought, and GHD is my top recommendation.

The word of mouth is strong on this one- and tons of other people have said the same!

Lot666 said: "Marway44 said: "The thing that I can't believe is that they could not be recognized with even one Tony for anything. Doesn't anyone else think they should have received a Tony and if so for what?"

GHD was my pick for Best Score until I saw Come From Away (I don't think DEH should've won Best Score) and Andy Karl was my pick for Best Actor until I saw Ben Platt's performance. As others have said, it's a shame that this was such a competitive season because I can see Mr. Karl having won if not for Mr. Platt.

I do think that GHD should've won Best Scenic Design."

Agreed, they deserved something for what they do with their sets and turntables. What was done to the Imperial is impressive creatively, which I guess overruled GHD's technical achievement.

Aside from Andy Karl, who would have gotten the Tony if it were up to me, even against Ben, I think Directing/Matthew Warchus was the only category where I really felt GHD had a chance. I haven't seen CFA, but from the clips I can why it won. Still, Mr. Warchus having to work out the staging to be beautiful and work with the demands of the turntables was equally impressive. What he did with Phil and Ned's blocking is gorgeous.

Updated On: 6/28/17 at 02:23 PM

Gosh, when I went to Spiderman I held my breath the entire show. It was enjoyable, but I was afraid for them.

Maybe GHD is the safer version of the most technically complex show? ha.