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UK critics fall for ‘Groundhog Day’ musical, over and over

In this image provided by the Old Vic Theater in London shows Andy Karl portraying Phil Connors and Carlyss Peer, portraying Rita Hanson in the play Groundhog Day in this undated image on stage at the Old Vic Theatre in London. A musical based on the much-loved 1993 movie about a jaded weatherman forced to live the same day over and over has opened at London's Old Vic Theatre at the start of what producers hope will be a long and lucrative journey to Broadway. (Manuel Harlan/Old Vic Theater via AP)
In this image provided by the Old Vic Theater in London shows Andy Karl portraying Phil Connors and Carlyss Peer, portraying Rita Hanson in the play Groundhog Day in this undated image on stage at the Old Vic Theatre in London. A musical based on the much-loved 1993 movie about a jaded weatherman forced to live the same day over and over has opened at London's Old Vic Theatre at the start of what producers hope will be a long and lucrative journey to Broadway. (Manuel Harlan/Old Vic Theater via AP) In this image provided by the Old Vic Theater in London shows Andy Karl portraying Phil Connors and Carlyss Peer, portraying Rita Hanson in the play Groundhog Day in this undated image on stage at the Old Vic Theatre in London. A musical based on the much-loved 1993 movie about a jaded weatherman forced to live the same day over and over has opened at London's Old Vic Theatre at the start of what producers hope will be a long and lucrative journey to Broadway. (Manuel Harlan/Old Vic Theater via AP)

By Associated Press 3 min read

LONDON (AP) – “Groundhog Day” is back, this time on stage. Is it deja vu, or something new?

A musical based on the much-loved 1993 movie about a jaded weatherman forced to live the same day over and over has opened at London’s Old Vic Theatre at the start of what producers hope will be a journey to Broadway.

Britain’s theater critics were largely enthusiastic Wednesday, the day after the show’s gala premiere, praising its zany fun and dynamic theatricality, and hailing star Andy Karl as a worthy successor to the movie’s leading man, Bill Murray.

Ann Treneman in The Times of London said the show “manages to couple laugh-out-loud British humor with American razzmatazz.” The Guardian’s Michael Billington found it “fantastically smart, clever and witty,” though he said “it left my heart untouched.”

Dominic Cavendish in the Daily Telegraph called the show “an instant classic … equal to, and perhaps better than, the movie.”