GROUNDHOG DAY's Andy Karl and More to Stop by THEATER TALK This Week

This week THEATER TALK welcomes key talents behind the new hit musical Groundhog Day - actor Andy Karl, director Matthew Warchus, and librettist Danny Rubin, who also was the screenwriter of the classic 1993 film starring Bill Murray.

Asked to describe how he originally got the idea for the Groundhog Day film, Rubin says he was simply struggling to come up with a new idea for a movie ("because that's what I do") and found himself thinking about immortality and the story of an emotionally stilted person repeating one day over and over again as a metaphor for that concept. The screenplay came together quickly - and a handy calendar helped him to place the action on Groundhog Day, when a TV weatherman ventures into a small- town to cover the festivities surrounding Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog whose appearance (or non-appearance) on February 2 determines an early spring or another six weeks of winter.

The musical shows Karl's character's transformation from self-absorbed to redeemable by having to relive the same day (Warchus estimates about 10,000 times) until he figures out how to escape his narcissism and move on with his life. The challenge, says Warchus, is to keep surprising the audience despite the fact that the story is about repeating the same events over and over. As for Karl, he admits he didn't initially believe he was right for the part of the newscaster, but later realized that the role of Phil Connors encompassed "everything I've ever done, all in one." Three days before the show's opening, Karl suffered a severe knee injury while executing his physically demanding role. Even so, he still performed on opening night. While THEATER TALK taped its interview with the hard-working performer before the accident, it acknowledges Karl's remarkable achievement before the credits roll.

The Groundhog Day edition of THEATER TALK premieres in the New York City metropolitan area Friday, April 28 (2017) on PBS station Thirteen/WNET at 1:30 AM (early Saturday morning) and repeats there on Sunday 4/30 at 11:30 AM; it re-airs on CUNY TV* Saturday 4/29 at 8:30 PM, Sunday 4/30 at 12:30 PM, and Monday 5/1 at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 7:30 PM; and also airs on WLIW/21 on Monday 5/1 at 5:30 PM and on NYCLife on Thursday 5/4 at 11 PM.

THEATER TALK is jointly produced by the not-for-profits Theater Talk Productions and CUNY TV. The program is taped in the Himan Brown TV and Radio Studios at The City University of New York (CUNY) TV in Manhattan, and is distributed to 100+ participating public television stations nationwide. THEATER TALK is made possible in part by The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, The CUNY TV Foundation, and The Friends of THEATER TALK.

*CUNY TV, the City University of New York television station, is broadcast in the NYC metropolitan area on digital Ch. 25.3 and cablecast in the city's five boroughs on Ch. 75 (Spectrum & Optimum/Brooklyn), Ch. 77 (RCN), and Ch. 30 (Verizon FiOS). THEATER TALK episodes are available online anytime at www.cuny.tv and www.theatertalk.org and via iTunes.

Pictured: Matthew Warchus, Andy Karl and Danny Rubin on THEATER TALK. Image courtesy of Theater Talk Productions Inc. & CUNY TV.