Jay Dysart is phenomenal in the lead, a Phil Connors with a more frenetic, brittle edge than the stillness of Murray’s film version. As the musical unfolds you watch his Connors spin through detached disbelief to detached hedonism to acceptance of his fate without ever feeling less attached to his arc.
Repetition is an art of infinite variety as it’s practiced by Jay Dysart in GROUNDHOG DAY, the dizzyingly witty musical from the creator/composer lyricist of “Matilda,” Tim Minchin. Portraying a man doomed to relive a single day over and over and over again in a small town that becomes his custom-fitted purgatory, Mr. Dysart is so outrageously inventive in ringing changes on the same old, same old, that you can’t wait for another (almost identical) day to dawn.
The rousing and rapid-fire Landmark Theatre production opened this past Friday night at the First Congregational Church in Long Beach, which is being directed and choreographed by local opera star Megan O’Toole (Nat’l Tour: Gilbert and Sullivan Troupe “Opera a la Carte”) and featuring a book by Danny Rubin. Based on Harold Ramis’s 1993 movie, GROUNDHOG DAY THE MUSICAL reimagines a much-loved film about instant karma with such fertile and feverish theatrical imagination that you expect it to implode right before your eyes.
But just so you know, here’s what isn’t in this GROUNDHOG DAY: There’s no “I Got You Babe” from Sonny & Cher driving you mental from the bedside alarm clock; there’s no live rodent on stage (too feral most likely); and, of course, there’s no Bill Murray. But the show’s star, Jay Dysart, brings his own brand of smarmy charm to the role of burned-out weatherman Phil Connors and makes it his own before you can say six more weeks of winter.
Where Murray was toxically bitter with spiky edges, Mr. Dysart has more of a slick smugness, his edges smooth and sanded down. Mr. Dysart may not be as unpredictable as Murray (his peerless gift for leavening snark with a pinch of sentimentality was his hallmark), but he conjures his own breed of jerky egomaniac, and does it very well (his kooky, offbeat performance as the Dentist in Little Shop of Horrors still runs in my head). His energy is oily cool whereas Murray’s was prickly hot. And yet it takes Mr. Dysart all of five minutes to win you over completely, resist as you might.
So if you’ve seen the movie, you’re that much ahead and already familiar with the bare bones of the story: Jaded big-city weather celebrity makes his annual pilgrimage to the snug little town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to do a remote segment about furry Punxsutawney Phil’s prognosticative powers.
Fueled by a runaway sense of self-importance, Phil looks down on and belittles not only Larry (Pluto Dysart), his cameraman, but also the small-town folks who show up at Gobbler’s Knob every year for the ceremony with Phil the groundhog. Call it payback, call it poetic justice, call it retribution, but when Phil wakes up the next morning he finds that it’s February 2nd all over again — a cruel case of déjà vu that forces him to spend another 24 hours with the same rubes he can’t stand. It’s the universe’s comeuppance, punishing him with an endless loop of do-overs until he can get his life right.
In translating this story to the stage, this production plies the bold but risky idea of making entrapment in a hick burg feel like being caught in an all-too-chipper song-and-dance show. Think of it: Perky, folksy people singing forever and ever about the pride of belonging to “a little town with a heart as big as any town” on a stage with endlessly repetitive scenes. Hmmm.
But it grows on you. And this show, just like the movie, has now acquired a holiday cult following. To those people GROUNDHOG DAY has become what “A Christmas Carol” and “It’s a Wonderful Life” are to Christmas. And before you know it, Phil gradually trades in his cynicism for a grateful acceptance of life’s simpler pleasures. These, of course, include the love of a good woman, who, in this case, is a morally grounded young television producer named Rita Hanson, charmingly embodied and sung by Lauren McGunigale, (last seen in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”) who provides perfect counterbalance to Phil along with excellent vocals throughout.
It’s Phil’s journey more than his destination that makes GROUNDHOG DAY such joy, as Mr. Dysart gives a many-splendored life to each faltering on the road to self-discovery. Using every tool in the musical theatre arsenal — Anger, prickliness, outrage, wonder, godlike omnipotence, drunken whoopdeedo exhilaration, suicidal angst, Zen-like resignation — Mr. Dysart turns these different feelings into a replete gallery of self-portraits, drawn with both comic spunk and genuine feeling. Even his antic dancing traces a precise evolution of character. And his pliable baritone covers a waterfront of emotions, from sardonic, pattering blitheness (“Small Town, USA”) to heavy-metal despair (the paradoxically titled “Hope”).
As far as the music, the insanely talented Mr. Minchin writes his songs in many shades, his undulating melodies and whip-smart lyrics tapping into the brooding sides of the supporting characters, extending the reach of existential anxiety beyond Phil’s solipsism.
There are unexpected poignant solos for supporting characters, like the town beauty, Nancy (Amanda Webb; “The Addams Family”) and Ned, the bereaved insurance salesman (Mark Waters; “A Little Night Music”), both adding some three-hanky sentimentality. And the riotous country & western rouser, “Nobody Cares,” in which Phil goes driving drunk with a couple of hilarious barflies (Joey Krumbein; “Rent” and Charlie Carlos; “Titanic The Musical”), becomes an ingeniously staged exercise in hedonistic hopelessness. The choreography to this number is insanely clever — like a bunch of teenage merry prankster theater geeks putting on a high school show. Later, they up the ante on that illusion with a three-dimensional car chase that has to be seen to be believed. It’s like “Avenue Q” meets “The Fast and the Furious.”
It’s a technical marvel and quite the acting and acrobatic feat as Mr. Dysart’s Phil bobs and weaves his way physically around the moving parts, having to remember which version of GROUNDHOG DAY he’s in, as the lines and interactions vary slightly with each incarnation.
Of course, during any show’s run, repeated performances can take on a same-ness with only minor variations. You could even say that the long run of a show may end up feeling a bit like GROUNDHOG DAY to its actors. But thanks to Jay Dysart’s undeniable star power, charisma, and quicksilver stage presence (how does he keep managing to make his way back into that bed without the audience seeing?), this is going to be a show that I suspect will feel totally fresh and new every night.
THE LONG BEACH LANDMARK THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS, GROUNDHOG DAY THE MUSICAL; Presented at FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF LONG BEACH UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST; Based on the Columbia Pictures Motion Picture and Story by DANNY RUBIN; Book by DANNY RUBIN; Music & Lyrics by TIM MINCHIN; Directed & Choreographed by MEGAN O’TOOLE; Musical Direction by CURTIS HEARD; Produced by JAY DYSART; Production Concept by JAY DYSART, NATHAN AMONDSON, MEGAN O’TOOLE; Asst. Director/Producer/Prod. Coordinator/Stage Manager LILY PENNER; Scenic Designer NATHAN AMONDSON; Asst. Choreographer PLUTO DYSART; Sound Designer KEN BEAUPRE; Costume Designer JAMES CARHART; Technical Director HAROLD KAST; Lighting Designer LJ CURIEL.
CAST: JAY DYSART as Phil Connors; LAUREN MCGUNIGALE as Rita Hanson; PLUTO DYSART as Larry; MARK WATERS as Ned Ryerson; AMANDA WEBB as Nancy Taylor; MARTHA DUNCAN as Mrs. Lancaster; RICHIE MUHAMMAD as Freddie/Healer 2/Puppeteer; EMILY “E.C.” CIPRIANI as Debbie/Puppeteer; CHARLIE CARLOS as Ralph/Healer 1/Bartender Billy/Elder; JOEY KRUMBEIN as Gus/Elder; TAYLOR MOBELY as Doris/Scientologist; LISA BODE HEARD as Mrs. Cleveland/Piano Teacher; MARK BRUCE-CASARES as Mr. Cleveland/Ensemble/Townsperson; DOUG EMSLIE as Elder/Old Jenson/Radio DJ; JOEL-STEVEN as Buster/Radio DJ; COREY SHAW as Sheriff; CATHERINE RAM as Deputy/Psychiatric Pharmacologist; JENNIFER WALQUIST as Naturopath/Storm Chaser/Townsperson; EMILY MORGAN as Joelle/Nurse/AA Person; JACK MILLIS as Storm Chaser/Elder/Groundhog Guy; TIGER CHEN as Jeff/Ensemble/Puppeteer; MATTHEW KOPP as Jonathan/Priest/Elder; ALISON MITCHELL as Ensemble/Townsperson/Puppeteer; MARISA KRUMBEIN as Ensemble/Townsperson/Puppeteer.
ORCHESTRA: CURTIS HEARD – Conductor/Keyboard; ED PEFFER – Reed 1; JEFF SISIL – Reed 2; ERIC MESSERSCHMIDT – Bass; AMANDA DUNCAN – Drums; GREG ADAMSON – Cello; MATT BRISLAWN – Violin; LANDON GRIGSBY – Trumpet; NICHOLAS WASHBURN – Trumpet; PAUL DE LA ROSA – Trombone; JOHN BALLINGER – Guitar.
GROUNDHOG DAY opened November 1st and will run through November 17th at First Congregational Church of Long Beach, 241 Cedar Avenue, Long Beach 90802. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 7 pm. Parking is available at the LB Civic Center parking structure at 332 W. Broadway. Street parking in the area is free of charge after 6:00 PM. Tickets range from $35 to $65 and are available at: https://lblandmark.org/groundhog-day/
Chris Daniels
Arts & Entertainment Reviewer
The Show Report
Photo Credits: Bryon Josh Reyes
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