I can't draw to save my life, and I'll confess that I've always been a little jealous of the fan art I see on Instagram.
When I'm not watching theater, I'm sewing. A few years ago I took a class with a woman named Ashely Nickels who taught about how to combine watercolors with free motion quilting to create typography.
In honor of the London 2023 run ending tomorrow, here are two Groundhog Day-inspired pieces that I recently made.
The material is plain cotton muslin, and the colors are done via fabric paint. I quilted over the fabric paint for the typography. For the sun / snowflake, I used watercolors for the outline, and then filled it the lines with quilting. The rest of the "texture" is done via regular ole quilting that blends into the white background.
(I did send these two as gifts to Tanisha and Andy respectively, so if you've seen these floating around Instagram, that's me XD)
One: I just want to say a sincere thank you to everyone who read my post about the changes in Groundhog Day, and especially to everyone who took the time to like my post or comment or message me about it. I really wasn't sure if anyone would be interested in something different like this, as opposed to a more traditional review, so I'm incredibly touched that others have enjoyed it.
Two: Today is the last day of Groundhog Day and I've been so busy with moving that it hasn't really sunk in yet. Going to both shows today and I'm looking forward to it but also not because then it will be over. Just hoping that, this time, it isn't the end for this show.
Some important content here that has been bothering me since 2017, when I got the start time of Groundhog Day wrong and ended up in the theater super early:
Before the show, we see the news screens on stage cycle through Phil giving different forecasts, including the infamous "flood story", plus a story about local apples.
Which brings us to this gem.
What in the name of global warming is happening to the weather in Pittsburgh???
No wonder Phil got trapped in a time loop, if he's living in a universe where Pittsburgh is 35 degrees AT THE SAME TIME THAT NEARBY CITIES ARE IN 110 DEGREES PLUS WEATHER.
(For the record, this picture was taken in 2023 in London, but the exact same thing happened in 2017 on Broadway).
My top tip for reducing stress during a house move is to book tickets for Groundhog Day for right after the move so you can remind yourself that one day good things will happen again!!!
Groundhog Day is a show that was close to perfect right out of the gate. And yet, from its first public performance in July 2016 right through to the revival currently running at the Old Vic, its c…
Wrote about Groundhog Day returning, the changes I saw in 2016 & 2023, and what it all means to me.
New trailer dropped for the 2023 Old Vic production of Groundhog Day. I could do without the pull quotes obstructing the footage, but it's nice to see the little moments captured.
*dusts off the old blog*
It's certainly been a minute, hasn't it! Still here, still a huge GHD fan. In the intervening years, I got to see productions at San Francisco Playhouse and at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora, IL. (I also got married and went through a bunch of other life stuff, but that's neither here nor there).
But then it was announced that Groudhog Day would be returning to the Old Vic in 2023 with Andy Karl, and my husband and I used that as an excuse to finally do that UK trip we'd been talking about for years.
Tumblr user colemckenzies did a great post outlining some of the changes between Broadway and 2023 Old Vic. I wanted to further elaborate on some additional changes I noticed. Obviously spoilers to follow:
In “There Will Be Sun”, the first chorus of “Tomorrow spring will come and then there will be blue skies my friend” is cut. It goes straight from “If not tomorrow then tomorrow or tomorrow there will be sun” to “Oh if I could I’d will these clouds away my love”
While obviously the revolves are gone (look at me picking up British-isms 😄), the bedroom set gets wheeled in every loop. They keep the trick from Broadway where this is always done counter-clockwise until the loop finally breaks.
As previously mentioned, there’s a wonderful lyric change in Day One. “Their dumb superstitions and vacuous chat, their total unawareness of the fact their trapped, perhaps you don't miss it if you don't know you lack it, I'm sure there was a pack of xanax in this jacket'
I adore this because of the foreshadowing, and how Phil thinks he’s singing about the townsfolk when he’s really singing about himself.
Dialogue change in 2023 when Phil runs into Jonathan:
Jonathan: “Off to the see the groundhog?”
Phil: “Why, isn’t there a tractor pull or a cow-tipping contest?”
When Rita introduces to Phil on Day One and reminds him of the flood story, Phil takes a second before recalling, groans, and goes, "Oh, the intern? They didn't even send me a real producer." After which Rita corrects him that she's a real producer now, albeit an associate producer.
On Day 2 when the sheriff drops his gun, Phil asks "How do you have a permit???"
At the end of Day 2, Rita sings “I mean he acts kind of asshole-ish still. I think he might be mentally ill.” While it’s on the cast recording and the early previews bootleg, I could have sworn it was cut in the final Broadway version. Regardless, it’s restored in the 2023 version.
Phil’s “Help me~~~~” at the end of Day 3 is cut.
In Philandering, they cut the line where Phil "proposes" to Nancy (which I prefer - no one is that stupid, and they make the point later that Nancy is more than a caricature)
Also in Philandering, you can hear the chorus singing, “Gonna party like it’s no tomorrow~~~” in the party scene (formerly the orgy scene). Phil also gets 10 pizzas delivered to his room.
Phil is less aggressive when he confesses his “love” to Rita in One Day.
On Broadway, they sit down directly on the stage, and Phil leans sideways to Rita to confess. As he gets more desperate, he starts to position himself over her and tries to take her hand, after which she slaps him.
In 2023, they’re sitting on a bench together. Phil tries to take her hand, and she pulls away and slaps him. Still creepy, but much less heading in the direction of sexual assault.
Either way Phil totally deserves to get slapped. I’ve talked to a few people who have said they could never root for Phil because of this scene (which is a fair critique). The 2023 version IMO makes the same point without so much portraying Phil as a potential sexual predator.
Right before Phil smashes the alarm clock at the end of One Day, he yells “Make it stop!” (“Somebody make it stop”? Memory is a fickle thing)
When Phil kills himself with the gun before Hope, it's more explicit that he stole the gun off of the sheriff with his faulty holster.
I don't remember if this is new, but when Phil wakes up at the beginning of Hope, he touches the side of his head where he shot himself and even though he knows that the day will always reset, he still looks a little surprised and it's heartbreaking.
For the third death/revival in Hope (where Phil climbs the ladder):
Broadway: Phil reappears in bed
Old Vic 2023: Phil reappears on the scene of the broadcast, fully dressed
As noted, lots of changes to If I Had My Time Again.
Cast recording: "The thing with these revolving rides / they're only fun because you know they're going to end"
Broadway (as of early in previews): "I was completely dead inside / But today I'm like 85%"
London 2023: We're back to the cast recording lyrics.
IMO the orchestration and lyric changes are for the better. I adored this song on the cast recording, but in the August Wilson theater it frequently felt swallowed up.
With the emphasis on just Phil and Rita, it’s a much more intimate song, which is what the scene needs IMO.
I also love Rita’s new lyric “Go to all the parties that I missed / Kiss all the boys I was too afraid to kiss”, because then it’s Rita fulfilling her “time again” when she kisses Phil during Seeing You.
After "If I Had My Time Again", Phil eats a carton of Ben & Jerry's while discussing the almanac with Rita. I love the implication that he’s eaten all of this junk food before, but he’s trying it again with her.
Dialogue change after "If I Had My Time Again"
Phil: "You know, Larry, we never really talk."
Broadway Larry: "Sometimes I think you don't notice that I'm there."
London 2023 Larry: "Well you never brought me donuts before."
Not a change, but I was sitting close enough one night to see the stock photos they use for Ned’s wallet pictures of his kids, and I realized that “little Mary” is just a baby. It really hit home that Ned has probably just lost his wife in the last year or two, and he’s trying to raise five very young kids on his own.
In the Broadway/cast recording versions of "Philanthropy", you can hear some melodic callbacks to earlier songs. In the London 2023 version, the chorus actually sings lines like, "I'm not sure what the point is / But this point is it don't matter" and "If I had my time again I would not do it all the same"
There's no pause of silence before "Seeing You" starts
After Phil and Rita run off into the snow at the end of Seeing You, the couples left dancing are Nancy/Larry, Debbie/Fred, and then Mrs. Lancaster dances alone in the snow in joyous wonder. I love this bit, becuase it feels like all the different ways you can find a new meaning of love (Nancy/Larry, the couple just discovering each other, Debbie/Fred, who have moved into a new phase of their relationship, and then Mrs. Lancaster, who even as an old woman can revel in the beauty of the snow)
In 2023 when Phil takes Rita to see the sunrise, he makes her cover her eyes, and then unveil them once the full sunrise is in view. It’s very sweet.
Anyway, I love this show, and I love talking about this show, so please feel free to hit me up! I may post more general thoughts, etc. if anyone is interested.
"A new day will follow // There's always tomorrow."
After 7 gruelling years, having finished university and sitting right up at the back of the Circle, I am pleased to be seeing the Groundhog Day Musical at the Old Vic this week.
It was a musical close to my heart, having dealt with alot of existential crisis now, and I am so happy that it came at the right time.
RIP "Où sont les neiges d'antan?" You made it from the very first GHD public performance through the many changes of the original Old Vic run and six months on Broadway and even a few previews of the revival this year. And now for some unknown reason you have been cut. Goodbye you beautiful little easter egg.
Taking my 5000th picture of this before the show started because I suddenly realized that although most of these videos are new, they threw in one of the old ones too... Phil Connors I missed you and your slow mo walk up to the camera and your nodding and your cheesy signature
Thinking of writing something about GHD 2023 but until I figure out whether I have actual words to say and not just overexcited screaming, here's my 2016 review
