“Groundhog Day: the Musical”

Highly Recommended **** Conversion from stage to screen is something that can go either way. We have seen both positive and negative outcomes from this. That also goes the other way, conversion from screen to stage. I loved the Bill Murray film, “Groundhog Day”. It was very clever and under the direction of Harold Ramis, has become a classic. ( although not easy t find). I think I saw the film 9 times. It is something that is worth repeating views. But could that happen in real life?

For those of you unaware of the plot and story of “Groundhog Day”, that is what takes place. TV Weatherman Phil Connors ( a tremendously talented Alex Syick knocks it out of the park, and yet, never tries to imitate Murray- he has created his own man) is off to see what the groundhog says. Will he see his shadow? Will Punxsultawney Phil come out at all? Weatherman Phil is a cocky. self centered person with no humility or humanity. He is truly into himself and sees everyone else as just “there”!

He wakes up in his room, gets dressed for his assignment, and along the way sees some of the locals and almost ignores them completely on his way to the TV broadcast. He does the five minutes, heads to the coffee shop and then finds out there is a major storm surrounding them so they have to stay in town- all the roads are closed. We then watch him do the same thing as if the first day never happened and lo and behold each day is just the same day- that is the story and during the 2 1/2 hours with one intermission, we watch it continue to happen. Only Phil knows that he is going through this and he begins to have unusual experiences. The main idea of what Phil is going through is that during these daily experiences he learns more about the people surrounding him and his own being. We watch him change to a caring person who can fall in love, and does! Phil becomes a better person and helps the town as well as falls in love (real love) with his associate producer Rita ( the lovely Phoebe Gonzalez).

With a book by Danny Rubin that closely follows his movie and music and lyrics by Tim Minchin, this is a fun show. I will say this: “if you have not seen the movie, you might not GET IT”, so you might want to watch it first. Understand that even though this has done Broadway proud, the musical numbers are unfamiliar to most audiences, so just go with the flow. They work to tell the story, and do so with just the right touch.

Under the direction of Jim Corti, and the unique set by Courtney O’Neill, this show moves quickly. The actors are all part of the scene and set changes as well. The projections that bring us much to see and experience are by Mike Tutaj and they do create marvelous looks at this story adding weather, snowball fights and so much more. The choreography (Megan E. Farley) and Musical Direction ( Kory Danielson) are sheer perfection as we have learned to expect at the Paramount Theatre. In fact, the entire production is right on target-Costumes (Jordan Ross), lighting (Greg Hofmann), sound (Adam Rosenthal), Wigs, hair etc. (Katie Cordts), props (Jesse Gaffney) and Electronic Music ( Ethan Deppe).

As I have mentioned, countless times over the years, the ensemble is an important part of any production, large or small. In many cases, they make the puzzle come together and as it is said in one of my favorite shows “The Fantastiks” “there are no small part, just small actors”. This ensemble is hard working from start to finish. One thing on the positive sides, since they do many scenes over and over, there are far less lines to remember ( ha ha). This ensemble is wonderful and composed of people who look just like people one might see in any small town U.S.A.: Ron King, Kyle Adams, Bryce Ancil, Adia Bell, Matthew Bettencourt, Christian Denzel Bufford, Lydia Burke, Max J. Cervantes, Aaron Conklin, Andres J. DeLeon, Vasily Deris, Nick Druzbanski, Veronica Garza, Carisa Gonzalez, Sophie Grimm, Karl Hamilton, Ciara Hickey, Kayla Kennedy, Michael Kingston, Teressa Rose LaGamba, Andrew MacNaughton, Michael E. Martin, Jake Morrisy, Emily Rohm,  Haley Jane Schafer and Zach Sorrow. Great work!

The songs are not hum along, but are geared to make the story move along at a better clip. The cast is a blend of newcomers and Chicago’s finest and the direction by one of our favorite directors. Paramount Theater has become one of the highest ranked regional theater companies and that is why we get to see some Midwest premiers on their stage. “Groundhog Day: the Musical” will continue at The Paramount located at 23 East Galena Blvd in Aurora through March 13th with performances as follows:

Wednesdays  1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Thursdays  7 p.m.

Fridays 8 p.m.

Saturdays  3 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Sundays  1 p.m. and  5:30 p.m.

Tickets range from $36 – $49 ( a bargain for theater of this quality) and are available at the box office, by calling the theater at 630-896-6666 or online at  www.paramountaurora.com

FYI- On March 11th, Paramount will have a special ASL performance with special seating use code ASLPARAMOUNT for this event.

There is valet parking, a garage just a block away and street parking is also available ( watch the signs). Lots of great dining in walking distance.

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Groundhog Day: the Musical”.

The Paramount follows all of the CDC rules and regulations. You must show vac card and photo ID to enter and patrons are to wear masks during the entire performance. You can lift, sip and put back. It works! Let’s be entertained and “stay safe”!

EDITOR NOTE This production is ADULT. Content has language not for children ( I think 12 and over is okay) but also has a situation with suicide.