Review: Päiväni murmelina
City Theatre’s My Day as a Groundhog hits and sinks Helsinki
City Theatre’s major production of the autumn, the absurd musical comedy “My Day as a Groundhog” is the story of a self-centred weatherman who sets out to report on a traditional event that can only be considered corny. And the same applies to the entire village where the event is held. To his horror, the man realizes that he is trapped in time and begins to wake up to the same day over and over again.
Time Loop does have its bright sides later on, when you know everything in advance: you can steal without worrying about getting caught, drink without being cranky, and you can also find plenty of female company when you can develop the most effective catchphrases in advance. As the same day repeats itself over and over again, the meteorologist’s morale begins to loosen even more and he gets to know the motley people of the small town more and more deeply. With particular determination, he begins to strive for close contact with his co-worker, a female TV producer.
“My Day as a Groundhog” had its world premiere only four years ago in London. Theatre director Kari Arffman brought the musical to Finland freshly, and the Finnish premiere at the Helsinki City Theatre is directed by Samuel Harjanne, who is familiar from behind “Kinky Boots” and “The Little Mermaid”.
“My Day as a Groundhog” is one of the most interesting mainstream musicals of this decade in terms of its tuning, even though it felt strange at first to transfer this American comedy into the form of a musical. But believe me, it works – because it has been made to work. HKT’s bar is again so high that it’s terrifying. But we go over it, and it feels effortless. Even though the effort has clearly been made, and a lot.
As a musical comedy, HKT’s novelty is dark in tones, even gloomy in places: the dream turns into a nightmare when the trapped Phil Connors (Lari Halme) finds himself meeting the annoying guys every morning in the same settings and has to listen to the same dreary flaps. Anyone’s head will fall apart in it.
And you can’t get out of the shackles of time even with the help of belief therapies, which are served to the beat of bossa nova by reflexologists, Scientologists and other humbug magicians played by Tume Uusitalo and co. Disappointed by this, Phil ends up drinking in the company of the backroom boys played by Paavo Kääriäinen and Juha Antikainen , who, in their freezing drunkenness, interpret the most unforgettable duet of the performance.
Well over thirty experts in the field will take to the big stage of the City Theatre, and unseen by the audience, the second and third of the toughest professionals will take part in the production.
So, if you have even a little idea of how the process of a musical proceeds in such polished working groups, you should remember to be careful not to praise one above the others. But let’s go this time: the premiere was Lari Halme’s night, there’s no getting around it.
It’s hard to say what the man will be paid, but no matter what, Halme will work at least for his salary. Phil’s role must be some kind of effort as a mere technical and physical performance, especially with the intensity with which Halme settles into it.
In the auditorium, people rubbed their eyes and gave applause when the hero is sometimes in two places at the same time. The audience gets to marvel at a few theatrical magic tricks, just like in last season’s “The Little Mermaid” – and when the situation is over, you wish you could rewind the scene and see how on earth they did that?
The set solutions that make such tricks possible have been conjured up by Peter Ahlqvist, known from Harjanne’s previous major musicals, in whose sets the entire small town whirls and whirls like thoughts in Phil’s head.
Maria Lund , who plays TV producer Rita Hanson, gets away with less work than her co-star, and in Harjanne’s visionary approach, she elegantly supports Halme’s work without any intention of stealing scenes from her.
Lund, who has played leading roles on many Finnish musical stages since the middle of the last decade, will be seen in HKT’s musical for the first time. Finally, he also gets to show the capital’s critical viewers his musical skills, down to his somewhat hidden comedic talents. And of course, singing is Maria Lund’s genre, if anyone’s. In “Murmel” he can and must break away from traditional musical styles, even in the direction of adult rock, and it works handsomely. Rita’s main song in the second act, “If You Could Have Time Back”, is brilliant power pop – easy and catchy, yet suitably tricky and surprising.
Halme’s singing has also become more mature and handsome to hear year by year. Already in the first “Little Town” solo, you have to take your hat off to overcoming difficult interval jumps, and later we hear the chest-shattering power ballad “Luovua et saa” (Give Up You Can), which the choir mirrors with a silky fine thinner.
The music of the work sounds meticulously thought out and intelligently executed. The ingredients of the music pot are American root stuff from blues to country styles, not forgetting Irish influences. Parade jazz and big-band swing are sprinkled among them, and all the confusion filters out a refreshing-sounding concoction, the structures of which are mathematically precise and support the narrative on many levels and move it forward.
With the score, the dozen orchestra led by Eeva Konttu is investing in wind instruments with as many as five players. The rhythm group includes names familiar to Riffi’s readers , from Jarmo Niku to Eeva Koivusalo and Heinä Nieminen to Sami Kuoppamäki.
HKT’s ensemble sounds bigger and fuller than ever in the choir venues. Sound designer Kai Poutanen has harnessed his megalomaniac sound system to spread and lengthen the sound of the choir, but without the feeling of superimposed effects gimmicks. Of the great choral songs, the three-part “Huomenna” catches the ear and offers a brave example of the imprint that the composer’s sharp pen has drawn on this work. Australian Tim Minchin is one of the new golden boys of the musical world – a multi-talented horror brat of stage and TV entertainment, who wrote not only the music but also the lyrics of the songs. By the way, the musical is written by American Danny Rubin – the same man who was already responsible for the script of the movie “Groundhog Day”.
Due to its unusual structure, “My Day as a Groundhog” offers a challenge right from the start, which theatre makers should definitely take on – if they like challenges. And indeed, as a genre, the musical is able to bring new dimensions, freedoms and possibilities to the narrative that could not have been imagined to be grafted into a film starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell . It is worth forgetting about it now, and surrendering to the City Theatre’s musical. Although the basic questions are the same as in the film, the way the musical deals with them makes it its own, independent work.
Beneath its comedic surface, the musical reflects on time and its relativity: there are moments when time flies by even if you don’t want it, and sometimes it crawls even if you wish it would. Time isn’t always on our side – and at least it’s not on Phil’s side, because for him it stops right when and where it shouldn’t.
Anyone who has ever felt trapped or in a predicament where things just get stuck can relate to Phil’s situation. Still, “My Day as a Groundhog” hints hopefully that you can perhaps free yourself from going around the circle if you look up in the mirror and start working on the change yourself – instead of just sitting around waiting for others to take the initiative.
Helsinki City Theatre’s new musical makes you think about today, yesterday and tomorrow – and how everyone uses the limited time squeezed into them.