Tim Minchin on why Groundhog Day Failed in New York — Page 2

I still haven't seen the show, but I've definitely heard enough raves about it that I now want to. But I remember that season I was living on the West Coast so I couldn't really see the shows and decided to listen to all the cast albums for the Tony nominated Best Musicals. I had originally kind of written off Groundhog Day as another movie cash grab so I already wasn't taking it as seriously, and the score wasn't quite as accessible to listen to as the other three shows. That's not to say it's bad as a theater score, but divorced from the stage, I just didn't find anything in the music to really hook into. And that's only my point of view, but I could imagine other people possibly doing the same thing and I'd understand why it never really caught on.

Groundhog Day barely registered for me. Much too much work to deal with the format. And the music didn't work for a musical.



I was so bummed the COMET didn't work on Broadway. It was enchanting at the Ars Nova.



BKLYN - where is Kevin Anderson?

Love me some Tim Minchin lyrics, he overwrites. deliciously. I bet Matilda might win in a lyric word count duel with Hamilton. Ground Hog Day wasn't a good match for him, it came off as an American show seen through a Brits take on Americans. And then there was the concept, the repeating of the day. He mentions in the article that the show was a traditional musical. That may have been the real issue, he thought he was writing a traditional (basic?) musical when it should have all been high concept right down to the lyrics and book. It should have gone beyond the film and found its own identity. I found it didn't hold my interest. There were fans of the film around me eating it up, I really don't like paint by number musical conversions. I had not seen the film and still found it all pretty predictable and at times low brow.

RippedMan said: "I think your years are a bit off as Hamilton and Waitress were technically in the same season. Same with Come From Away and Dear Evan Hansen.

To my knowledge, 2006 was a big year with Light in the Piazza, Spamalot, and Spelling Bee all being hits."

Right, I was intentionally going for calendar year, so like Hamilton opened August 2015 and Waitress opened April 2016. I looked at that criteria instead of the official season for a couple of reasons. 1st of all, it's slightly easier to look up. But also, I think the official season is a fairly meaningless distinction to the general ticket buying audience.

Strategically, season matters in terms of winning Tonys which can help sales. But other than that, I don't think the general public is keeping that close tabs on what season we're in when deciding to go to a show. For example, I see nearly everything on Broadway, and have only a vague sense of when the official season ends. I can't tell you without looking it up, if it's the same date every year, or changes.

Anyway, I'm not 100% sure all these shows recouped but check out what came out on Broadway in 2005 from a calendar year perspective:

January 2005: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (626 performances)

March 2005: Spamalot (1,575 performances)

April 2005: The Light in the Piazza (504 performances), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (1,136 performances)

November 2005: Jersey Boys (4,642 performances)

December 2005: The Color Purple (910 performances)

Updated On: 1/8/24 at 10:29 AM

For me it was the staging. It was very exciting and interesting in the tent, and i liked what they did for Broadway.

I saw it once and was bored. I purchased the cast recording and really could not get into it.

The thing I am not clear about, however, is how big a hit was it even in London. I know that it was revived last summer for a limited engagement, but I don't seem to remember that it had a long run in a city where long runs have been common 'forever.'

Is it possible that this is essentially a niche show, and you either love it to death or don't get it? I just remember wanting it to end.

I'm probably a good example of the dynamic Minchin discusses.

In 2017, we almost saw Groundhog Day in its final days of previews because it was a Monday and I had heard reasonably good things about it even though I suspected Stephen Sondheim was right that the film couldn't be topped. But my family couldn't get three seats together and we saw Phantom of the Opera for a second time instead. Seeing film adaptations is rarely a big priority for me, especially when I know the movie, and the other shows we saw on the trip - with tickets bought in advance - were Great Comet (which I loved) and Dear Evan Hansen (the hot show of the season along with Hello, Dolly).

I finally saw a regional production of Groundhog Day in San Francisco and enjoyed it.

It was a tough season. Maybe the show would have failed anyway, but the combination of Dolly, Comet, DEH, the sleeper success of Come From Away and several strong plays made the spring of 2017 a difficult year to break through.

I recall the film being a laugh riot but I found the musical depressing. It's the same plot but it really dials down on the grim aspects of the story. The second act got bogged down in mournful ballads.

Andy Karl is a capable actor but he was also too leading man handsome to find the humor in the character's misogyny. I just didn't take Bill Murray's awful behavior as seriously as I did Karls. I wasn't able to root for him like I was the more vulnerable Evan Hansen that season.