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Variety: The new musical adaptation of “Groundhog Day,” currently wrapping up its critically adored premiere at the Old Vic in London, has set plans for Broadway, lining up an April opening at the August Wilson Theater.
The musical adaptation of Groundhog Day seems to be lined up for success. I have actually never seen the movie Groundhog day, but if current trends in musicals and Groundhog Day (the musical) reviews have any indication of how it will go, I think that it is safe to say that it will flourish on Broadway. Waitress, another recent movie-adapted-into-a-musical-show, has been a major hit on the live stage. Waitress is a movie that I have seen at least a dozen times (maybe even a BAKER'S dozen, hahaha....because it's about pie.....) and and I have loved to see it become such a big success. Groundhog Day (the movie) has a larger following and fan base than Waitress (the movie), which will help spark interest and create buzz about the show. The only concern I would have for Groundhog Day (the musical) would be that the Groundhog Day (movie) following will be disappointed with how closely the plot of the musical adaptation will follow that of the movie.
I LOVE the movie “Groundhog Day”. I think it’s one of the better older movies, especially since it stars Bill Murray. The film is quirky and heartfelt, and you truly get to see the main character grow and develop. The time repeating is easy enough to do in film through cuts, and is essential to the film’s story. I’m interested to see how this time repetition will be created on stage. Will the director use a musical number to show the audience that time is shifting and rewinding, or something more choreography based? I’m impressed that the creators were able to write songs about these characters and their circumstances, and hope they’re as theatrical as the celebration of groundhog day in “Groundhog Day”. Overall, this stage production seems quirky and interesting. Maybe if I’m still in this part of the country when the show premiers I’ll go see it in New York.
I love the idea of this show! It looks amazing! I can wait for the cast to be announced. One thing that was left out of this article is that one of the lead producers, Scott Rudin left the production. This is pretty important since he is currently a top producer on broadway. I wonder if the show will have success since he has left. Also will the show be the same as the production as in London? or will there be changes? They have good momentum since the New York Times gave it a good review. I am excited to see the final product!
I'm very excited to see this show transition to Broadway. I love a well done movie to musical show such as Kinky Boots, Hairspray, Dogfight. However, I am not a big fan of the movie to musical shows that do it because it's a safe choice. Those shows are clearly made to stay on the screen, and audiences react as such. For example, Rocky was a world renown movie, but the Broadway show was a flop. (Although I will say the design and technical execution was so beautiful I cried) Overall, it was not well received because it fell victim to the problem with most movie to musicals: 1) you can never replicate cut-to-cut film with live theatre 2) people don't like when you mess with their favorite movies/childhood memories. These downfalls are why Kinky Boots, Dogfight, and Hairspray were so successful: no one had adoring memories of those musicals, and they could be adapted well. I'm nervous that Groundhog Day will fall victim to the second downfall, people don't like when you mess with their childhood movies. It may very well be a wonderful musical, but because it is not Tom Hanks, and the same exact as people will remember from when they first saw it, they will not be able to accept it for what it is. I'm glad it was well received in London, but once again their childhood movies, and ours are different. I look forward to seeing how it's going to be received on the American stage with so many die hard Groundhog Day fans.
Ever since King Kong the Musical, I haven’t really been surprised about something being turned into a musical. When I saw Groundhog Day (the movie) I didn’t think “this should be a musical”, but I can see how it could be a fun musical. Maybe it is just me, but it seems like musicals based on movies are becoming more and more common. I guess those musicals tend to be popular, or at the very least aren’t too risky, so people would want to produce them. I do quite like seeing established stories remixed or re-imagined, but I tend to only find that interesting when the retelling of the story changes something about it, such as Wicked retelling The Wizard of Oz from a different perspective, whereas I feel like taking a movie and adding song numbers might be nice, but just isn’t as interesting as it could be. I’m sure the Groundhog Day is a reasonably good show, but I don’t find the story compelling enough to feel the need to see it in a musical format, especially with so many other musicals I haven’t seen.
5 comments:
The musical adaptation of Groundhog Day seems to be lined up for success. I have actually never seen the movie Groundhog day, but if current trends in musicals and Groundhog Day (the musical) reviews have any indication of how it will go, I think that it is safe to say that it will flourish on Broadway. Waitress, another recent movie-adapted-into-a-musical-show, has been a major hit on the live stage. Waitress is a movie that I have seen at least a dozen times (maybe even a BAKER'S dozen, hahaha....because it's about pie.....) and and I have loved to see it become such a big success. Groundhog Day (the movie) has a larger following and fan base than Waitress (the movie), which will help spark interest and create buzz about the show. The only concern I would have for Groundhog Day (the musical) would be that the Groundhog Day (movie) following will be disappointed with how closely the plot of the musical adaptation will follow that of the movie.
I LOVE the movie “Groundhog Day”. I think it’s one of the better older movies, especially since it stars Bill Murray. The film is quirky and heartfelt, and you truly get to see the main character grow and develop. The time repeating is easy enough to do in film through cuts, and is essential to the film’s story. I’m interested to see how this time repetition will be created on stage. Will the director use a musical number to show the audience that time is shifting and rewinding, or something more choreography based? I’m impressed that the creators were able to write songs about these characters and their circumstances, and hope they’re as theatrical as the celebration of groundhog day in “Groundhog Day”. Overall, this stage production seems quirky and interesting. Maybe if I’m still in this part of the country when the show premiers I’ll go see it in New York.
I love the idea of this show! It looks amazing! I can wait for the cast to be announced. One thing that was left out of this article is that one of the lead producers, Scott Rudin left the production. This is pretty important since he is currently a top producer on broadway. I wonder if the show will have success since he has left. Also will the show be the same as the production as in London? or will there be changes? They have good momentum since the New York Times gave it a good review. I am excited to see the final product!
I'm very excited to see this show transition to Broadway. I love a well done movie to musical show such as Kinky Boots, Hairspray, Dogfight. However, I am not a big fan of the movie to musical shows that do it because it's a safe choice. Those shows are clearly made to stay on the screen, and audiences react as such. For example, Rocky was a world renown movie, but the Broadway show was a flop. (Although I will say the design and technical execution was so beautiful I cried) Overall, it was not well received because it fell victim to the problem with most movie to musicals: 1) you can never replicate cut-to-cut film with live theatre 2) people don't like when you mess with their favorite movies/childhood memories. These downfalls are why Kinky Boots, Dogfight, and Hairspray were so successful: no one had adoring memories of those musicals, and they could be adapted well. I'm nervous that Groundhog Day will fall victim to the second downfall, people don't like when you mess with their childhood movies. It may very well be a wonderful musical, but because it is not Tom Hanks, and the same exact as people will remember from when they first saw it, they will not be able to accept it for what it is. I'm glad it was well received in London, but once again their childhood movies, and ours are different. I look forward to seeing how it's going to be received on the American stage with so many die hard Groundhog Day fans.
Ever since King Kong the Musical, I haven’t really been surprised about something being turned into a musical. When I saw Groundhog Day (the movie) I didn’t think “this should be a musical”, but I can see how it could be a fun musical. Maybe it is just me, but it seems like musicals based on movies are becoming more and more common. I guess those musicals tend to be popular, or at the very least aren’t too risky, so people would want to produce them. I do quite like seeing established stories remixed or re-imagined, but I tend to only find that interesting when the retelling of the story changes something about it, such as Wicked retelling The Wizard of Oz from a different perspective, whereas I feel like taking a movie and adding song numbers might be nice, but just isn’t as interesting as it could be. I’m sure the Groundhog Day is a reasonably good show, but I don’t find the story compelling enough to feel the need to see it in a musical format, especially with so many other musicals I haven’t seen.
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