Groundhog Musical A Big Hit in London

Peter Pinne reports.

With reviewers calling it “an instant classic” and “could be better than the movie”, Tim Minchin’s musical version of the beloved Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day this week received a five star reception when it opened at London’s Old Vic.

Like the main character in the story, it’s déjà vu time for the composer who is reliving the critical reaction he received in 2011 when Matilda blasted the critics away. Mark Shenton in The Stage called his music “evocative and exhilarating”, Variety said his score “is as smart as Matthew Warchus’ staging is witty”, while Sarah Compton opined he “might just be a genius”.

Minchin, working with two of his Matilda creatives, director Matthew Warhus and choreographer Peter Darling, have as The Telegraph claimed given the “ingeniously funny and clever Hollywood film a triumphant rebirth”, with The Guardian saying “the extra ingredient supplied by the musical is a dynamic theatricality.”

The musical, which is based on the 1993 movie about a smug TV weatherman, Phil Connors, who is sent to small-town Punxsutawney, Philadelpia, to cover the annual Groundhog Day ceremony and finds himself trapped in a 24 hour time warp, has a book by Danny Rubin, working with Harold Ramis who co-wrote and directed the original movie.

Walking in Bill Murray’s shoes as Phil Connors is Broadway star Andy Karl, who most recently played Rocky on Broadway and comes direct from a permanent gig on TVs Law and Order SUV. According to the Ben Brantley in the New York Times, Karl “imbues Phil with all shades of sarcasm and kindness” and translates the “essence of Murray’s lazy dryness into the high-voltage energy of musicals”. Henry Hitchins in the Standard thought Karl did the seemingly impossible by banishing memories of Bill Murray saying “He oozes star quality, managing to be poisonously sarcastic, charmingly vulnerable, and charismatic even in moments of melancholy.”

The musical plays at the Old Vic until 17 September and is due to open on Broadway in 2017 with Andy Karl once again as the grumpy weatherman. In the meantime it’s obvious a West End transfer is imminent.

Photographer:  Manuel Harlan.