GROUNDHOG DAY THE MUSICAL to Make Australian Premiere in Exclusive Melbourne Season

Producers GWB Entertainment have announced that award-winning and record-breaking, Groundhog Day The Musical, will make its Australian premiere in Melbourne.

Direct from its record-breaking return season at London's Old Vic, Groundhog Day The Musical will play exclusively at Melbourne's Princess Theatre, for a strictly limited season from January 2024. Tickets go on sale 9am Friday 6 October, with casting announcements to be made soon.

Based on the 1993 hit film and from the creatives behind Matilda The Musical (on stage and film), this Tony-nominated and Olivier Award-winning (Best New Musical, Best Actor) musical sensation took the US and UK by storm in an enchanting comedy-musical of a man trapped inside one day on repeat.

Phil Connors, a cynical Pittsburgh TV weatherman is sent to cover the annual Groundhog Day event in the small town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Caught in a time loop, he's forced to relive the same day again and again… and again, sending him on a often hilarious and sometimes moving path to enlightenment and redemption.

Australia's Tim Minchin AM reunited with Matilda The Musical's director Matthew Warchus who, together with the film's original writer, Danny Rubin, have created this gloriously joyful and heart-warming musical.

“I have waited 7 years for this moment!” said Tim Minchin AM, “Groundhog Day The Musical, like Matilda The Musical, has a unique mixture of darkness and light, of head and heart, and of complexity and joy, and I've been convinced since its first iteration that Australians will love it! I'm so excited that the run is going to be in Melbourne, the city I lived in when I wrote my break-out comedy shows, and the place where - when things weren't going so well - I learned how important it is to find the beauty and hope in the day to day.”

Speaking to Groundhog Day The Musical's overwhelming success, the musical's Director Matthew Warchus said, “Following its celebrated run at London's Old Vic Theatre, where it broke all box office records, I couldn't be happier to be bringing Tim Minchin and Danny Rubin's musical masterpiece to the Princess Theatre in Melbourne (coincidentally, the very venue which was home to Matilda back in 2016). Groundhog Day The Musical, I know, will surprise many people. Perhaps the most joy-filled show I have ever directed, this magical tale of redemption somehow manages to be both a truly hilarious romantic comedy and a profoundly moving and inspiring message of hope. I love the original movie and I love this adaptation. It inspires us to be the best possible versions of ourselves, to break free of our repetitive gloom and to learn how to love life. All that plus a rodent who predicts the weather…what more could you ask for?”

GWB Entertainment Director Richelle Brookman said, “We are so thrilled to be presenting the Australian premiere and exclusive Melbourne season of Groundhog Day The Musical. This production is hilariously funny but also incredibly moving and is a testament to the creative genius of the incredible team who have created it, including our own Tim Minchin.  We invite audiences from across Australia to join us in Melbourne for one of the best nights at the theatre that you will ever experience.”

Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Steve Dimopoulos said, “Melbourne will be the only place people will be able to see Groundhog Day The Musical, and only the third city in the world to stage the production – a genuine coup for Australia's creative capital. This Melbourne-exclusive experience will attract visitors from around the country and overseas, creating jobs and delivering significant economic benefits to the state.”

The production features Set and Costume by Rob Howell (Matilda The Musical, A Christmas Carol), Choreography by Lizzi Gee (Little Shop of Horrors, A Christmas Carol), Orchestration, Additional Music and Musical Supervision by Christopher Nightingale (A Christmas Carol, Matilda The Musical), Lighting by Hugh Vanstone (A Christmas Carol, Back to the Future), Sound by Simon Baker (A Christmas Carol, Girl from the North Country), Illusions by Paul Kieve (Matilda The Musical, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), Video and Animation by Andrzej Goulding (Sylvia, Eureka Day), and additional Movement by Finn Caldwell (Dr. Seuss's The Lorax, Life of Pi).

Groundhog Day The Musical  is a Whistle Pig production, produced in Australia by GWB Entertainment, supported by Victoria's Tourism and Major Event fund, Visit Victoria. Groundhog Day The Musical was originally produced in partnership with The Old Vic.

The Melbourne exclusive season of Groundhog Day The Musical will play at the Princess Theatre for a strictly limited season from January 24, 2024.

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