Review: Päiväni murmelina

A coming-of-age story coloured by music and gallows humour

What if you stayed to live your day over and over again, encountering the same people, events and mishaps throughout the day?
The same annoying people come and ask the same questions, say the same quips and repeat the same problems at the same time?

Helsinki City Theatre’s musical comedy My Day as a Groundhog tells the same story as the cult film released in 1993, but with a more nuanced and big look, as is customary in big musicals. Even though the play tears up its themes much more than the film, the familiar undertone and twists have been taken over from the film. The viewer knows that they are watching the same story.

Punxsutawney is a small town in the United States. Every year on February 2, Groundhog Day is celebrated, the ultimate purpose of which is to predict the coming of spring. The tradition really exists, an annual event that has also spread more widely in North America.

In the story, self-centered meteorologist Phil Connors (Lari Halme) is sent to work to report on Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney. The town, its inhabitants, and not even the colleagues who are there, producer Rita Hanson (Maria Lund) and cameraman Larry (Henrik Hammarberg), are not to Connors’ liking. The sooner you can get the work done, pack the car and leave the city, the better. For some reason, Phil lives the same day over and over again, and there seems to be no way out of the cycle of time.

The musical is not lacking in speed. The first act, in particular, is breathtaking to watch at times. The sets, events and characters change frequently with the locations, but in accordance with the story, repeating themselves. A bad stumbling block could be the structure based on the repetition of the story.

But like the film, the musical also manages to avoid numbing the viewer, even though there may be slight signs of frustration in the second half of the play. With small narrative and music-aided means, the story remains interesting and there are enough differences between the different 2nd of February to keep the story interesting.
Danny Rubin, who also wrote the original film, has translated his text well into a musical. The songs composed by Australian comedian-actor-musician Tim Minchin, which I had been looking forward to at first, did not disappoint my expectations. The songs and their lyrics are a functional part of the whole, and those familiar with the gentleman’s previous work will recognize their creators in songs with catchy melodies leaning towards pop, rock and jazz. The lyrics, which contain hilarious humour, are in places a diamond in the rough, and their successful translations into Finnish are thanks to Reita Lounatvuori and Hanna Kaila.

There’s no point in trying to connect Phil Connors, played by Lari Halme, to the expressionless Connors played by Bill Murray in the film, and that wasn’t the intention, thankfully. Connors in the musical and the film are united by the same superficiality and arrogance, but otherwise the characters are written in their own frames of reference. Lari Halme is skilled on his own and as part of an ensemble, and thus brings out the musical Connors perfectly. Rita Hanson, played by Maria Lund, has a lot more to connect with the film’s Andie MacDowell, and that’s not a bad thing. With her singing skills, Lund brings the songs performed by her character to her own level and sometimes so high that others are left in the background.

Samuel Harjanne seems to be the director these days when it comes to a big and spectacular musical. Harjanne has directed a fast-paced and tightly held whole. The choreographer of the play, Simon Hardwick, also deserves praise: even though a lot happens in the scenes from time to time, the choreography never goes overboard. If life in Punxsutawney were like in a musical, one would well imagine that the inhabitants of the city would live and move like this.

Like the film, the play does not provide an answer to Phil Connors’ repeated Groundhog Day, and the answer to that question will probably never be known. This is not even intentionally brought up, and it is not relevant. At its core, however, My Day as a Groundhog musical is about a coming-of-age story and a person’s ability to learn respect for others and their own life.