I won the Lottery tonight for Groundhog Day and...

I liked it ok, nothing bad, nothing great, just a pleasant evening. I found myself eventually more interested in following the staging than the story. (No technical glitches the night I saw it.) **SPOILER PERHAPS** This included trying to see into the shadows and around moving set pieces to how Andy ended up back in bed in his t-shirt, striped boxers, and black socks so quickly. I know a few times there are body doubles but still I found the staging impressive. Maybe because I knew the movie and how the romance would end up I was less interested in the plot and more in the staging.

And IMO really no denying Andy's energy, vitality, and charisma, torn ACL and all. I still agree Ben deserved the Tony over Andy, but just by a hair.

Act 2. Nothing. That show is about a turntable. Haven't seen a turntable used that much since Les Miz. And that poor ensemble. Nothing to do. And it doesn't let out at 10:30. It's over at 10:40. Sorry. A tuneless bore. Get me back to Dolly.

Updated On: 7/14/17 at 11:06 PM

ok

I love this show. My best of the season. I saw it 2x in one weekend visit to NYC. To each their own

Yeah. Everyone's entitled to their opinion. I've calmed down a bit after that ordeal tonight.

Tell me, what did you like? Certainly not the score. I admit I'm moving on in years but there isn't a tune in that whole show. As I said, the Ensemble works their tale off all night and does nothing. The female lead role is weak. And Mr. Karl, who I've admired since his Altar Boyz days, runs around all night and has a gag here and there but no big number. I knew from the lame opening number, I was in for it.

The audience tonight seemed to like it, although the woman next to me was looking at her program to see how many songs were left. As I said, I didn't applaud once and the show meanders from song to song without any buttons to them. Well, I guess I said enough. I was just so disappointed because I had heard it was "fun".

I'm also a fan, and am quite fond of a few of the songs: Playing Nancy, Night Will Come (both from minor characters) and Hope. Tim Minchin doesn't always hit it out of the park, but his lyrics are clever and have a nice mix of pathos and a spot of irony.

Didn't love it, but certainly didn't hate it. I doubt I'd ever watch it again and no one in my family is interested in obtaining the cd.

At first I liked it. I then saw it a second time and thought it was borderline awful. The problem with this show is the same problem that I have with Sunset Blvd. They took a great film and made a mediocre musical. I adored Minchin's work on Matilda, but I find his work here, frankly, uninteresting. The best song in the show is certainly "Seeing You" and even that has completely boring lyrics. His humor here is juvenile and not in a good way like in Book of Mormon and Avenue Q, but in a way that just wasn't particularly funny to me. I've seen Minchin be filthy and genuinely hilarious, but I didn't find much in this show to be very funny. I thought the set was hideous and the choreography uninspired and the cast to be just serviceable. Andy Karl (who has done some incredible work in the past) isn't really doing anything special here. He's charming, charismatic, and handsome and is occasionally humorous, but his role could really be filled by a slew of other leading men and I found his singing left a lot to be desired. He's a great guy and a wonderful performer, but I can't help but think that maybe some people are judging his performance based on how much they like Andy Karl and not on the actual quality of his performance or role. As for the rest of the cast, there is a great deal of extreme over acting, which was a problem that I noticed in Come From Away too. It made the show feel unbalanced especially because I thought that Karl was actually giving a very nuanced performance. Basically, the show feels ridiculously messy and underwritten. It really leaves me cold.

I thought it took a bit too long to get started in Act I but it was an enjoyable evening overall, especially with a TDF ticket. Not the best but far from the worst. There are enjoyable moments and Andy was great. The score was weak as well, but the cast performed the songs well. Not for everyone's taste but certainly not awful, imo.

schubox said: "I loved it. I thought Karl alone was worth the price of admission. He has so much presence and charisma. And a lot of the technical stuff is pretty great. I would agree there is no stand out song, but I did enjoy the songs.

I can get why people wouldn't like it, but to hate it seems odd



"

I couldn't agree more with you! I've seen it twice and liked it better the second time around. Andy Karl is so amazing on stage, he just has this thing about him.

I can totally understand people not understanding the love for the show if they only listened to the score. You are missing the performances, Andy Karl's expressions, the hilarity that happens on stage. His behavior when he is having the snow fight with the kids? Oh ma GOD that left me nearly on the floor laughing. People who hear it when I am listening to it say it's way too much for them, so I think you really need to see the show to appreciate the score. It's a sweet show, and I hope it lasts until the holidays.