Playing Nancy Groundhog Day? — Page 2

Saw this with my gf a few weeks ago and as soon as this song was over she turned to me and asked why in the world this song existed. Kind of had to agree with her. Song is fine, but it's an odd opener and it seems to be trying to flesh out a character that doesn't need to be fleshed out. It's like they needed to pad the runtime, or give that let a song so they could attract actors to it. Very odd

It's an attempt to make the audience see the townspeople as more than just simple idiots, but it ends up being more jarring than moving. It goes completely against the flow of the first act and entr'acte, and audiences are left saying "Am I still seeing the same show?"

As previously noted, this is intentional.

It makes Nancy seem like she's going to be a major character down the line, but she isn't.

She was a prominent minor character in the first act, which leads to this song is about that character. Lots of characters have prominents roles, then a song, and then fade into the background afterwards.

It's pretty cliche and overdramatic -- the hot girl is more than she seems to be. Been there.

That's an oversimplification. It's actually about a hot girl who is exactly what she seems to be, and how she's okay with that. And it's a clever comment on casting of female characters based on their attractiveness.

If they wanted to make the townspeople more relate-able, they could have done it in a better way.

It's not either-or. They did make other townspeople relatable in other ways. See Ned Ryerson, for example. This is how they made Nancy relatable.

In my opinion it's the weakest part of the show, and hurts the credibility of Tim Minchin -- Some of my friends who didn't like the show just point to Nancy and were like "If this is good writing, then what was THAT?". And that kills me, because I think the show is brilliant otherwise.

Maybe the song deserves another listen, because it is brilliant.

raddersons said: I think what it comes down to is... Is it worth stopping the whole show (I mean seriously, the action freezes around her) just to have one minor character sing a ballad that really isn't necessary?

First of all, you're coming right off of the intermission and a 30-second entr'acte, so it's not like you're right in the middle of the action and suddenly everything stops. People are still finding their seats, putting down drinks, all that. It's not like you're interrupting the play in action, because it hasn't really started yet.

But I don't know how you define "necessary" in this context. You seem to be complaining that the song interrupts the story of Phil Connors in order to focus on a relatively minor character, and I'm saying that's exactly what the song is about. It's right there in the lyrics!

"Is it my destiny to be a brief diversion/Just a detour on the journey of some man"

You're saying that she's an unimportant character whose song distracts from the Phil story, which is exactly why she's so sad! It's a very self-aware song. And the texture of a play (or a movie, or a book) is often created by providing interesting details about a minor character or event that is otherwise tangential to the main plot.

You could say the point of making Nancy relateable is to make the audience cognizant of what a dbag Phil is.

The point of the song is that Nancy doesn't want to just be defined by her relationship to Phil! Saying her song doesn't advance the Phil story misses the entire point. It would be like saying "On My Own" should be cut because it doesn't advance the romance between Marius and Cosette, when the entire point of that song is that she is ignored by Marius.

But this could be done any number of ways without stopping the show.

I don't know what to tell you. The song is part of the show, so it's not stopping it in any way. And it's setting up Act II, where Phil Connors becomes aware of other people as individuals of their own, instead of just seeing them as tools to be manipulated. So it completely sets up the mood and the theme of the second act.


Ultimately, I don't know what the answer is, but if half the audience is left feeling "What just happened?", then that's not the answer.

Every time I've seen the show, the audience has roared with applause at the end of that song, so I don't see the problem. And maybe the idea is to get the audience to stop and think about the song.

Updated On: 8/7/17 at 07:33 PM

What I got out of it was that Phil can escape the mundane hamster wheel that he is in, but Nancy is stuck "playing Nancy." I also liked that it was a bit of a ho-hum start to act 2. You expect some big production number and then it's not. I dunno. I loved the whole show. It's so off-beat and weird. I mean it doesn't even end with a big rousing chorus number.

I think "Playing Nancy" from GHD and "No One Else" from The Great Comet are the best songs of the season.

10086Sundays said: "Here's a nice guy, close to her age, who may end up being the first real relationship she's ever had that would no longer make her feel like she has to accept being "just collateral" in someone else's story."

And Larry and Nancy only notice each other because Phil stopped worrying about himself and actually asks Larry's opinion on something. It's all very well choreographed and scripted.

I definitely think the placement of the song is a little odd, but it grows on you.

I wanted to add some thoughts to the discussion of GHD, My advice is to see it at least a 2nd time for anyone who didn't like it the first time they saw it.The first time I saw it (and didn't know what to expect) I didn't hate it but I didn't love it. But when you see it a second time you fall in love with it, and by the third time you are bawling your eyes out at the end. There's something about the show that makes you feel connected to it, it's hard to explain. If I could afford it I would be ready for a 4th and 5th time.

"And since I'm mentioning people who sang, there's a really beautiful song that the lyricist, Minchin, should get some credit for. I think it's called "Being Nancy", I think that's the name of the song, and there's a girl named Rebecca Faulkenberry who's sort of like the hot object of Punxsatawney, you know, if you can be the hot object dressed sort of like in a fur hat, almost like down clothing. She does it, she's very attractive.

But, this song is very...it comes, I did not see this one coming. It opens the second act, and again, this song really, really gets to people because they don't see it coming. I love when people don't see it coming, and they don't see this song coming. And I'm not sure I've ever...and I guess I've seen musicals where people have tried to do something like a "woe is me" number, or "little lost me", but this one is better than any one I ever saw. And she...everyone sings really well, but she sang it really well.

It's a very powerful song, and to open the second act with it...! Usually it's the kind of thing that you put somewhere at the end of the first act, you know, but it just comes out, and it comes from out of nowhere!"

--Bill Murray

This song and its placement exemplify why I think the show is one of the best-written in recent memory. It sets up the structure and tone of the second act perfectly.