Playing Nancy Groundhog Day?

[lillymcgrath]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 2:11pm

I have now seen "Groundhog Day" twice and both times I have immensely enjoyed it- Andy Karl and the show itself are something you don't want to miss- however I am a bit puzzled by the placement of the song "Playing Nancy" opening the second act of the show. I love the song and like that breaks the forth wall a bit, but I think it's placement is odd. It would make more sense if the first thing you heard back from intermission was "Hope" because it pulls you back into Phil's story. Love this show, but would love to hear people's opinions on what they think about the purpose of Playing Nancy.

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 2:14pm

It's a good cabaret song, but I have yet to understand why it is in the show nor why they have placed it where it is.  Is a puzzlement.

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 2:16pm

I love that it opens the second act. It says "there's more to these people than you think," a lesson Phil learns throughout the second act. It's more than a little on the nose... haha... but... I like it!  

[Malka2]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 2:27pm

I agree with you completely - I think it's a really nice song, but doesn't make any sense story-wise. 

My friend who I went to GHD with last week turned to me after that song and asked "What on earth was that about?" 

Her guess was that they just wanted to give Rebecca Faulkenberry a solo... I thought maybe they wanted to give Andy Karl a break? It's a pretty intense show for the lead. But no idea why it was put there, and it really doesn't connect with the rest of the storyline.

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 2:33pm

I totally agree. I love the song, but I thought it would have made much more sense in Act 1, right after their one night stand. We hear all the other townspeoples' songs during or immediately after their interaction with Phil, why not hers?

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 2:39pm

I think KJisgroovy has the right idea. All through Act I we were free to view the residents of Punxsutawnie as cartoons and stereotypes, as easy to discard as Phil does throughout the Act. Act II forces us immediately to take another look at each of these residents as fully-formed people who each get to star in their own life story. "Being Nancy" does a great job of forcing that lesson front and center, and it's a beautiful song to boot. 

(I didn't understand the song's placement at all when I only had the cd to go on. Seeing the show in the flesh last week made it crystal clear.)

[kaykordeath]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 3:10pm

I would have placed it alongside (before or after, probably before) Night Will Come. Add in a little bit of Gus and/or Ralph, you get a nice picture of the small town residents coming to terms with how "big" life is as a whole and how they all come to terms with (or reject) having a dictated role to play in life...accepting fate versus forging their own path.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 3:12pm

Yes, this song is about showing the townspeople are more than just the cardboard cutouts of small-town Americans that they appeared to be to Phil in Act 1. It also brilliantly sets the tone for the second act, which is a complete departure from the first. I love the audience reaction to it, whenever I see the show. It starts out with people laughing at "The perky breasted giggly one night stand". Then all of a sudden it turns serious and you can visibly see the reactions change in the audience when it becomes apparent that she's NOT just that but a real person with real feelings. 

And if you actually listen to the song, Nancy is singing about how her life, like Phil's, is stuck on repeat and how everyday she's stuck playing the same part. 

 "I don't really remember, I guess I chose to be here..." - That line is so brilliant, if you take a step back and look at your own life and all the steps you took (or didn't take) that got you to where you are. And maybe we're all stuck living the same day every day, in our own personal way. I think that's what the song is saying when it sets up the seriousness of the second act. 

[darquegk]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 3:27pm

Structurally it's a parallel to the other Minchin musical: they both begin Act 1 with fourth-wall breaking character numbers for the supporting cast.

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 3:39pm

Her guess was that they just wanted to give Rebecca Faulkenberry a solo... I thought maybe they wanted to give Andy Karl a break? It's a pretty intense show for the lead. But no idea why it was put there, and it really doesn't connect with the rest of the storyline.

 

No. Tim Minchin has said it's the first song he wrote for the show... I believe in a Playbill interview. He said it was the song that helped him figure out his "take" on the material. Or something to that effect. 

[godlessondheimite]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 3:56pm

I understand what they were trying to do with it--show that the Punx residents are people with lives of their own, aren't just cartoon characters, that actions generally consequences (time loop notwithstanding). But I hate it. It's trite and it slows the second act down, which would have had a fantastic opening if they just cut out that song.

[10086Sundays]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 4:00pm

The song has a couple meanings and purposes. Some have already been mentioned, so sorry for the repetition.

First, act two is all about Phil learning to view people not just as who they are, but as important, valuable aspects of his life.  Instead of writing the townspeople off as hicks and “half wit bastards,” he engages with them to learn about their lives, like he does with Ned.  He has to discover how to become a participant in the world, not just existing in a place where all he can see is what he wants to, measuring time and success in what he can get from it for only himself.  “Playing Nancy” introduces us to this phase in his journey.  A character that seems largely one-note and stereotypical is given a chance to tell us that while in some ways she is, in other ways, she is just finding a way to survive in a world she does not have full control of.  There is more to her than just her role, something Phil is unable, but will learn, to see.


Second, the song serves to contrast with Rita’s character. Rita would rather be lonely, and keep the world at arm’s length, than engage in hollow relationships with no future.  Rita and Nancy are two sides of the same coin, finding different ways to fill the void in their lives left by a lack of romantic love. 

They are equally sad, but by the end Rita has learned to accept that no relationship is “perfect” and she will have to find her prince in an imperfect person, namely Phil.  Nancy is also given something of a possible happy ending when Larry, who seems like a good guy, shows interest in her, which will hopefully lead to a real connection and her learning to value herself and demand more from relationships than she does.

Third, it’s a meta piece about the experience of women in show business, their struggle to be valued based on more than their looks and the fight for equality in a male dominated business.

As for its placement, it has to start act two, because anytime after that it would break up the momentum of Phil’s transition from detachment from the world to engagement with, and appreciation of, it and people around him.  In act one, he doesn't see them as people, we're viewing the world through Phil's eyes, so it can't go there.

I could say more, but this is long enough already.

Updated On: 6/29/17 at 04:00 PM

[Born in a Ditch]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 4:26pm

I always thought it should have been in the first act right after Phil and Nancy have sex. It'd be sort of a "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" moment. 

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 5:00pm

I think that's definitely a good, conventional place to put it... but the show hasn't moved on yet. Phil's still being a jerk and only looking at his world view. I really like the way the show opens up in the second act, when Phil starts to notice there's a whole world around him. 

[Pippin]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 6:09pm

In an interview with Danny Rubin, Andy Karl, and Mattew Warchus on Theatre talk, (I believe it was Warchus) who said that for the duration of the entire first act, it's all about Phil. We only get to spend time with him, because he is so egocentric. The second act makes the audience abruptly stop focusing on Phil, and maybe even realize that, like Phil, they were being selfish by only focusing on him. (as we do in our everyday lives; focus on only ourselves.)  by exposing the lives of the other characters.

I also thought the song comes out of nowhere, and is oddly placed, but according to the team, it is a VERY specific choice to put the song right at the top of Act 2.

So kudos to them for making an out of the box choice, and giving it some metaphysical meaning.  

[a-mad]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 7:28pm

Reading all of these responses makes me love the recording even more.  Damn, I wish this show was doing better so I could see it the next time I was in NYC! (most likely next year...)

Yes, it could tour... but I highly doubt they would use the same set on tour - and I would love to see how the set operates in all it's glory.

[Owen22]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 7:38pm

KJisgroovy said: "I love that it opens the second act. It says "there's more to these people than you think," a lesson Phil learns throughout the second act. It's more than a little on the nose... haha... but... I like it!  "

Well, THAT is a stretch...but maybe that's their justification of taking a mediocre song that was cut from the middle of Act One, lazily re-positioning as an opening Act 2 number.  ONLY because there is similar non-sequiturious number that opens Act 2 of "Matilda" that actually somehow works.

 

[Margo319]

Posted: 6/30/17 at 12:22am

I was listening to this earlier today and thought the same thing.  In the film, she is just a ditz who is around for sex appeal and laughs.  I really respect that they wanted to make her a fully realized character in the show, but yes, that song came out of nowhere.  It's a beautiful song and it got a very loud round of applause but it was just weird.

 As a kid you don't think about it but, he took advantage of a woman and had sex with her, knowing she would not remember the next day.  That is super gross, but he's an a$$shole, so whatever.  I am glad they focused on other characters during the second act, like Ned and Nancy, but it was simply oddly placed.  I think "Hope" should have been the closing of Act 1.  

Updated On: 6/30/17 at 12:22 AM

[TheThreadMaster]

Posted: 6/30/17 at 12:57am

Its to show that the people he has been treating like dirt for the past weeks are people too with their own stories and lives.....................And some might say to give Andy Karl a 4 minute break after intermission following a monster first act..............but mostly what I said first...haha

[10086Sundays]

Posted: 6/30/17 at 1:09am

Margo319 said: "As a kid you don't think about it but, he took advantage of a woman and had sex with her, knowing she would not remember the next day.  That is super gross, but he's an a$$shole, so whatever.  I am glad they focused on other characters during the second act, like Ned and Nancy, but it was simply oddly placed.  I think "Hope" should have been the closing of Act 1. "

I think having "Hope" end Act 1 would limit its impact, personally.  He's devastated in that moment, trapped in the loop he can't escape, so to stop the show there and give the audience breathing room would be a misstep.  Opening Act 2 with him in the diner, which leads to the scene with Rita at the benches, would lose its emotion impact, in my opinion.  Also, I really just love the end of One Day as the Act 1 closer.  We get a hint of the level of despair but we haven't heard it from him yet.  With Phil's journey from giving up on life to embracing it contained in Act 2 it resonates more. 

I will admit "Playing Nancy," for as much as I understand and appreciate why it's in the show, is the only song I skip sometimes when listening to the cast recording.

Nancy aside, when you think about the fact that he ends up with Rita, the women he spent days trying to get in bed with just for the heck of it, it ruins the ending a bit. Definitely one of those things you don't want to think too much about and the story relies on the audience wanting to gloss over that fact too in favor of the happy ending.

Updated On: 6/30/17 at 01:09 AM

[Margo319]

Posted: 6/30/17 at 2:01am

I will admit "Playing Nancy," for as much as I understand and appreciate why it's in the show, is the only song I skip sometimes when listening to the cast recording"

Same!

 

[Andy Bates]

Posted: 8/7/17 at 3:18pm

That's funny, because Playing Nancy is probably the song I've listened to the most off of the soundtrack. And just having seen the show this past week, here is my interpretation of why it's there.

First of all, for people saying it stops the flow of the show: Yes, it does that intentionally. The second act starts with a rousing entr'acte, with a crowd of people onstage...and then everyone freezes for the entire Playing Nancy solo. It's abundantly clear that the creators of the show intended it to be (literally) a show-stopping moment. So the question is, why would they do that?

The song is meant to catch your attention. You're supposed to stop in your tracks and think about it. The first time I saw the show, the entire audience was just stunned and confused, especially since the song is winkingly breaking the fourth wall a little. It's a brilliant moment that forces you to stop and think about a throwaway character who was previously just viewed as a plot device. And subsequently, you should start looking at the other people as characters in their own right, and not just as obstacles or objects to be manipulated.

And in Act 2, that's how Phil starts seeing people.

[raddersons]

Posted: 8/7/17 at 3:54pm

Love this show, hate this song. I also remember sitting and the theater and saying "...What the hell was that?".

-It's an attempt to make the audience see the townspeople as more than just simple idiots, but it ends up being more jarring than moving. It goes completely against the flow of the first act and entr'acte, and audiences are left saying "Am I still seeing the same show?"

-It makes Nancy seem like she's going to be a major character down the line, but she isn't.  

-It's pretty cliche and overdramatic -- the hot girl is more than she seems to be. Been there.

If they wanted to make the townspeople more relate-able, they could have done it in a better way. In my opinion it's the weakest part of the show, and hurts the credibility of Tim Minchin -- Some of my friends who didn't like the show just point to Nancy and were like "If this is good writing, then what was THAT?". And that kills me, because I think the show is brilliant otherwise. 

Updated On: 8/7/17 at 03:54 PM

[Margo319]

Posted: 8/7/17 at 3:59pm

Yeah, the more I listen, the more I have really liked the song.  But, it's not in the right place.  I do not know the right place for it, but it's definitely not there.  I don't recall exactly when in Act 1 they bang, but perhaps it should be closer to then.  It's so random in Act 2 since Phil never talks to her again.  Or, am I wrong?  Does he talk to Nancy in Act 2?

[10086Sundays]

Posted: 8/7/17 at 4:36pm

There's no place for it in the show other than where it is, so, the only option would have been to cut it. 

Phil hooks up with Nancy in the middle of the "Philandering" number, when he's realized he can do anything he wants, so putting it there would be even more jarring and out of place. And that number leads directly into another scene, so it can't go at the end. 

The only time we see Phil and Nancy onstage together in Act 2 is when Nancy bumps into Larry while Phil, Larry, and Rita are setting up for the broadcast. Well, aside from at the dance at the end, but Phil and Nancy aren't anywhere near each other then.