Tim Minchin to turn ‘Groundhog Day’ into a musical

The original 1993 movie starred Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell

Tim Minchin is set to turn the 1993 movie Groundhog Day into a stage musical.

The musical comedian, who was also behind the stage adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Matilda, broke the news via his website TimMinchin.com, where he went into further details about the new project after explaining that “our wee secret has leaked”.

The original film was directed by Harold Ramis and starred Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell, and sees Murray’s character re-living the same day over and over again. Of the new project, Minchin explained: “Our version of Groundhog Day is going to be both instantly recognizable, and utterly different. The central conceit is perfectly suited to the theatre, in my opinion. In fact, I think many of its ideas could be enhanced by the stage. It has the potential to be complex, dark, visually fascinating, and thematically rich, whilst still being a joyous romantic comedy with cool tunes and lots of gags.”

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He added that the idea of a musical based on the classic film was not new, and that Stephen Sondheim was once rumoured to be planning his own version of the film. Minchin explains he spoke to the composer and musical theatre legend, who said “he was only ever tossing the idea around. It got put on the back burner”.

Minchin revealed that he recently played two of the ballads set for the project at KOKO in London’s Camden, writing: “Not sure whether, out of context, they meant anything to those of you who were there, but I hope you enjoyed them.” He finished up by saying that he hopes to bring the project to the stage “within a couple of years”.

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