Groundhog Day Tickets

In addition to multiple Tony nods, Groundhog Day has also been nominated for the prestigious Laurence Olivier Award in multiple categories. Out of these, Groundhog Day has won the 2017 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical and Best Actor for Andy Karl.

Pre-Broadway Production

This musical comedy was first staged in 2016 at the The Old Vic. Encouraged by the response, the organizers brought it to Broadway in 2017 and the musical comedy made its big debut on April 17, 2017.

The Musical Adaptation of Groundhog Day was a Long Time Coming

Made on a budget of a little over $14 million, the 1993 movie grossed over $70 million at the box office. Ranked in the top ten greatest films in the fantasy genre by the American Film Institute, the movie has amassed a cult following over the years.  

It is clear that at least as early as 2003, Hollywood bigwigs had been tinkering with the idea of adapting the movie into a musical comedy. When Stephen Sondheim, a celebrated composer and lyricist was asked about his future projects, he said that he’d like to see a musical adaptation of the movie. However, by 2008, he had given up on the thought as in his own words it would be to gild the lily. Interestingly, in 2009, it was Harold Ramis (director of the movie) who revealed that Danny Rubin (the movie’s screenwriter), had been working on the book for a musical.

By 2012, the film’s adaptation into a musical was in jeopardy again when Rubin couldn’t find the right composer. Before Rubin abandoned the project, he met director Matthew Warchus, who introduced Rubin to Tim Minchin. The trio then started working on the musical comedy and formally announced their partnership in January 2014. It was decided that the book would be written by Rubin, Warchus would direct the musical and Minchin would write the songs. Warchus and Minchin had earlier worked on Matilda, another massive Broadway hit.

Early Success

Groundhog Day was a success in London with the musical receiving a string of five-star reviews. However on Broadway, it was a different story where the production received mixed reviews. Ben Brantley of The New York Times was particularly in awe. Groundhog Day, he said reimagines a much-loved film about instant karma with such fertile and feverish theatrical imagination that you expect it to implode before your eyes.

The Cast

Playing the protagonist Phil Connors, Andy Karl is a veteran on stage who has performed in a variety of Broadway plays such as Jersey Boys, Wicked, And So It Goes, On The Twentieth Century, Rocky the Musical, 9 to 5 and Legally Blonde.

In addition to Karl, Rita Hanson’s (Andie MacDowell) role will be played by Barrett Doss.  A graduate of NYU, Doss is a film, TV and stage actress, who has worked in hit theatrical productions of You Can’t Take It With You, Jamaica and The Real Thing.

The Venue

Named after the two time Pulitzer Prize winning American playwright, The August Wilson Theatre is situated in Midtown Manhattan. Its seating capacity is limited to just over a thousand. The theatre has been home to many hit productions such as Jersey Boys, My Fair Lady and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

If you somehow missed the 1993 cult classic Groundhog Day, then this is for you – you can now relive it again. Adapted into a Broadway musical by the same folks who brought you the Bill Murray, Andie McDowell classic, Groundhog Day is one musical you wouldn’t mind experiencing again.  

Get your Groundhog Day tickets and head on over to the August Wilson Theatre in Midtown Manhattan.