Get your Phil at ‘Groundhog Day: The Musical’ at Woodstock Opera House

“You couldn’t pay me to stay here one more night!”

– Lyric from “Day One,” a song in “Groundhog Day: The Musical”

This ironic line, sung by Pittsburgh TV weatherman Phil Connors early in “Groundhog Day: The Musical,” now playing at the Woodstock Opera House through Feb. 16, is actually true. Phil (Jeff Thomas Graf) doesn’t get paid extra to stay another night – he just has to stay.

As fans of the 1993 Bill Murray/Andie MacDowell movie know, on the day of a remote broadcast from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, Phil keeps reliving Feb. 2, Groundhog Day, no matter how he tries to move on with his life or at least with the calendar. With the film having been made in Woodstock, and with a multi-day celebration of the movie taking place there for many years now, it’s understandable that Theatre 121 doggedly – or should we say groundhoggedly – pursued the rights to produce the musical, especially when countless “Groundhog Day” lovers from throughout the country and from other nations already would be here.

With a book by Danny Rubin and music and lyrics by Tim Minchin, the musical recreates many of the memorable plot points from the film while adding dialogue and songs that give us insight into not just Phil and associate producer Rita (Jordan Rakittke), but also cameraman Larry (William Roberts) and several of the townspeople in Punxsutawney.

Director and technical director Tracey Lanman and vocal director Cassidy Tully have cast a talented, diverse, 19-member ensemble in a show that emphasizes not just the humor and romance prevalent in the film, but also dramatic elements. With Graf’s nuanced portrayal of Phil, we see him progress from the worst version of himself (self-centered, stereotyping Punxsutawney residents as “big mouths, small ideas”) to the best (helping others instead of himself).

Phil’s changes within each version of Feb. 2 result in changes to how he’s perceived, especially by Rakittke’s Rita. As Rakittke sings the thoughts she’s jotting in her journal (“It’s a sweet town and people are kind and the bartender’s kind of hot”), the audience sees how vastly different Rita and Phil are, and how much Phil would have to change to be worthy of her.

Besides Graf and Rakittke, there are several other standouts in the cast who get their chance to shine:

• Joel Bennett, who gets the opportunity to play a flamboyant alternative therapy healer in the song “Stuck,” as well as Ned Ryerson, the annoying former high school classmate of Phil’s who now sells insurance. “Night Will Come,” a solo by Ned, gives Bennett the perfect opportunity to show the sadness that’s also part of his life.

• Skye Schoen and Nathan S. Forrester as Gus and Ralph, respectively, two friends who regularly use liquor to drown out the mundane nature of their lives. The Act I song “Nobody Cares,” performed by Graf, Schoen, Forrester and the ensemble features an apt simile in the initial lyrics: “I wake up hungover, I go to bed smashed like an alcoholic hamster on one of those little wheely things.” With the constant repetition of Feb. 2, Phil starts to appreciate the idea that he can do virtually anything without suffering any consequences.

• Gianah Tomczak as Nancy, the town beauty on whom Phil sets his lustful eye in early iterations of Feb. 2. Tomczak shows Nancy as deserving more than just a fling in her Act II solo, “Playing Nancy,” which endears her to us with lyrics like “Is it my destiny to be a brief diversion? Just a detour on the journey of some man?”

Two items that didn’t go as smoothly at the Groundhog Day Eve performance I attended include: 1) a set change in which a set piece or two initially was wheeled offstage in the wrong direction; 2) in certain songs, the balance between the nine-member orchestra (which could definitely be heard) and the singers (often, but not always, heard). Opera House renovations should resolve this issue in the future when instrumentalists are no longer directly in front of the stage.

It’s also important to point out that this isn’t a show for young children. As stated in the program, the musical contains “depictions of violence, strong language and mature themes.” Suicide is one example.

I won’t make you wait until next Feb. 2, though, to find out my overall opinion of Theatre 121’s production. To quote a movie line that isn’t in the stage production, “It’s a doozy!” You’ll laugh, you’ll be moved and trust me: It’s a “Groundhog Day” you’ll want to relive.

• Paul Lockwood is a communications consultant at Health Care Service Corporation in Chicago, as well as a local theater actor, singer, Grace Lutheran Church (Woodstock) and Toastmasters member, columnist and past president of TownSquare Players. He and his wife have lived in Woodstock for almost two dozen years.

IF YOU GO

• WHAT: “Groundhog Day: The Musical”

• WHERE: Woodstock Opera House, 121 W. Van Buren St., Woodstock

• WHEN: Friday-Sunday through Feb. 16

• INFORMATION: 815-338-5300, woodstockoperahouse.com/257/Opera-House