When it was released in 1993, the Bill Murray romantic comedy Groundhog Day was expected to be a minor success, quickly forgotten. It seemed to shock everyone, even Murray himself, by becoming a hit, its title quickly entering the lexicon and becoming synonymous with bland repetition or feeling sick of the daily grind. Of course, like most popular culture that deals with time travel – or, in this case, a closed circuit time loop – the story soon starts flirting with metaphysical conundrums. That furry little bugger who predicts the weather is really leading us into a conceptual black hole.
In adapting the film into musical theatre, director Matthew Warchus and composer and lyricist Tim Minchin have rejoined after their phenomenal accomplishment with Matilda (still one of the great musicals of the 21st century), with original screenwriter Danny Rubin writing the book. While it’s largely successful, easily as funny and also considerably darker than its cinematic antecedent, it isn’t an unmitigated triumph. It’s certainly not a patch on Matilda.
