For folks who think local theatre has gotten too repetitive, has Santa Rosa’s 6th Street Playhouse got a show for you. Groundhog Day: The Musical, based on the popular 1993 film starring Bill Murray, is running (and running, and running…) in their GK Hardt Theatre through Feb. 23.

The show, with a book by the film’s co-writer (Danny Rubin) and music and lyrics by Tim Minchin (Matilda the Musical), opened in London’s West End in 2016 and was followed by a somewhat cursed (and brief) run on Broadway in 2017.   

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: TV weatherman Phil Connors (Nelson Brown, alternating with Garet Waterhouse) is less than thrilled with his assignment to cover Punxsutawney Phil’s world famous annual weather prediction. A bit of an egotist (and narcissist, and misogynist), Phil takes his frustration with his stalled career out on his producer Rita (Michelle Pagano), his cameraperson, and the residents of the town.

Trapped in town by a blizzard, Phil retreats to his B & B and buries himself under the covers. He awakes the next day to find it isn’t the next day, it’s the same day. The same thing happens again the next day, and the next, and the next. His initial confusion turns to delight in discovering he can get away with anything as everything just resets every morning.

That delight soon turns to depression as he grows bored with the situation. He finds himself actually trying to reach out and connect with people, especially Rita. How will he ever get out of this endless 24-hour circle of life?

Love, stupid.

The show, directed by David Lear, is a bit darker and more “adult” than I remember the film being and, despite some silly, amusing, and inventive bits of comedy and stage magic, is not for younger audiences.  

It really benefits from the performances of its talented leads. Brown has just the right amount of smarm before eventual charm, and Pagano grounds the show with her down-to-earth performance.

There’s a lot of musical theatre talent filling the diverse ensemble, including David Bradbury, Ted Smith, Katie Foster, Sam Minnifield, Molly Larsen-Shine and Mary Gannon Graham. 

While the songs are mostly – dare I say it – forgettable, they’re delivered by the cast with vigor under the musical direction of Lucas Sherman and support of a seven-piece backstage orchestra.

The choreography by Karen Miles is good and well executed by the cast, but I gotta ask – Where the hell did the tap dancing number come from? Don’t get me wrong, it’s one of my favorite styles of dance but it just seems to come out of nowhere. Granted, most dancing in musicals seems to come out of nowhere, but in this instance it really seemed to come out of nowhere.

Groundhog Day: The Musical is no classic, but it will bring some light to an audience in these ever-growing dark days.

‘Groundhog Day: The Musical’ runs through February 23 in the GK Hardt Theatre at 6th Street Playhouse, 52 W. Sixth Street, Santa Rosa. Thurs-Sat, 7:30pm; Sun, 2pm. $29–$56. 707.523.4185. 6thstreeetplayhouse.com

Photos by Eric Chazankin

This review originally appeared in an edited version in the North Bay Bohemian.