After premiering at London’s Old Vic in August 2016 to rapturous reviews, including a five-star critique in Limelight, Tim Minchin’s new musical Groundhog Day opened at the August Wilson Theatre on Broadway on Monday to a standing ovation and mostly good reviews.

Tim Minchin's Groundhog DayAndy Karl and the cast of Groundhog Day. Photography © Joan Marcus

Featuring a book by Danny Rubin – who wrote the screenplay for the 1993 film on which it is based – and music and lyrics by Minchin, Groundhog Day is helmed by British director Matthew Warchus, who also directed Minchin’s musical Matilda.

The show scored a rave in the all-important New York Times by Ben Brantley, who described the show as “dazzlingly witty” and praised Minchin’s score writing: “The insanely talented Mr Minchin writes songs in many shades, though he’s probably most at home where the shadows lurk. As in Matilda, his undulating melodies and whip-smart lyrics tap into the brooding sides of the supporting characters, extending the reach of existential anxiety beyond Phil’s solipsism.”

At the other end of the spectrum, one of Brantley’s predecessors Charles Isherwood was much less complimentary in a review for Broadway News, saying: “Minchin is a skillful songwriter, but his score for Groundhog Day is mostly flavorless and uninspired, lacking in the spritely comic distinction of his best work on Matilda.”

“I’m afraid the production, simultaneously frenetic and static, left me just about as glum as its protagonist is at curtain rise. Life would be grim indeed if I had to wake up and face this tedious, charm-free and often tasteless show again day after day,” said Isherwood.

A sell-out success in London, Groundhog Day won two Olivier Awards just last week for Best Musical and for its leading man Andy Karl, who plays jaundiced TV weatherman Phil Connors (the role created on film by Bill Murray) who must keep reliving the same day in small-town Punxsutawney until he rediscovers his humanity.

In the lead-up to the Broadway opening, however, there were a few gremlins. Mechanical problems struck at Thursday’s preview – the first press performance – with a set malfunction causing a 10-minute delay. More worryingly, Karl tore his anterior cruciate ligament during a dance routine at Friday night’s preview.

The Saturday matinee was cancelled and an understudy performed at the evening show. It was touch and go as to whether Karl would be able to perform at Monday’s opening night but with physical therapy, a cortisone shot and hours of re-rehearsal on Monday morning, he limped his way through the show – and emerged triumphant with rave reviews all round for his performance. “A Star is Born (and Born and Born)”, said Brantley.

As The New York Times reported, Karl needed to perform in the opening night to be eligible for the Tony Awards. And he must continue to perform to allow the approximately 850 Tony voters to see his performance.

Tim Minchin's Groundhog DayAndy Karl and Barrett Doss in Groundhog Day. Photograph © Joan Marcus

In a very positive review in The Hollywood Reporter, David Rooney said: “Unlike far too many musicals regurgitated from hit movies, Groundhog Day is a delirious reinvention with its own defiantly unique personality, a relentless forward-backward spin that leaves you smiling, exhilarated and giddy”.

Chris Nashawaty in Entertainment Weekly was also impressed, describing the “wonderfully inventive” musical as “a giddy highlight of the current Broadway season”, while Johnny Oleksinski in The New York Post described it as a “deliciously zany yet touching show”.

In another positive review, Linda Winer in Newsday found it “an ingenious, witty, dark yet joyously offbeat musical” and said: “Tim Minchin’s music beguiles with odd phrase lengths and wildly unpredictable, amusing lyrics, while director Matthew Warchus and his first-rate cast take us through the day and its many conflations with a light touch that belies the head-spinning concept and scenic intricacy.”

Reviewing for Variety, Marilyn Stasio wasn’t completely won over by Minchin’s songs, saying: “Tim Minchin’s lyrics turn out to be much cleverer than [the] introductory number would indicate. Unfortunately, his music lacks a distinctive sound and doesn’t rise above monotony, not even in the song that (so help me!) involves an enema.”

In a 3-star review for TimeOut NY, David Coote said: “While there are likeable, inspired elements in this musical adaptation of the great Bill Murray movie, time crawls as you wait for boorish weatherman Phil Connors to surrender to human kindness and true romance… Unfortunately, the tone throughout is gratingly cartoonish, replacing the dry whimsy of the movie with overwrought clownishness… One can’t help but wonder if an American creative team might have found more sympathy, subtlety and pathos in the material.”

Reviewing for the Chicago Tribune, Chris Jones said: “When it comes to credible depictions of small-town Pennsylvania, Groundhog Day the Musical is about as veracious as a woodchuck named Phil is a qualified rodent meteorologist. This British import to Broadway — staged by people for whom small-town America is a typology, rather than a collection of souls — is more Whoville than Punxsutawney.”

Jones praised both Rubin’s “fabulous book” and Minchin’s score, saying his “composing talents are the perfect match for this material”, but found Warchus’ production “overstuffed and near-chaotic”. Nonetheless he felt: “this is still a new Broadway musical that works — even one that has a few moments of greatness, replayed and redux.”

 

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