Last Updated on October 9, 2025
Award -winning musical reprised at The Old Vic
The Olivier award-winning musical, Groundhog Day, has just opened at The Old Vic. With an appropriate touch of deja vu, that’s where it first played in 2016 and,at that time won best new musical and best actor at the 2017 Olivier Awards. Younger members of the audience won’t recall when the cult film burst onto the big screen in 1993. Since then, the term groundhog day has entered into common parlance and refers to being stuck in a monotonous repetition of tedious events. The musical – as does the film – tells the story of a most unpleasantly cynical, arrogant and misogynistic Pittsburgh TV weatherman, Phil Connors, who is sent to cover the annual Groundhog Day celebrations in the small town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. This event is an eccentric occasion by any standards. Connors is accustomed to predicting the future – weather in his case. In failing to correctly anticipate where a blizzard would land he is trapped when the roads are closed. He gets more than he bargained for, becoming stuck in a time loop from which he cannot escape and which sets him on a path of self-exploration and redemption.
Groundhog Day is celebrated on 2 February each year in Canada and America and has a long history, having begun in the 16th century Europe. On this day, celebrants watch for the emergence of the groundhog, a squirrel type animal known as a marmot, which hibernates through the winter. If the sun is shining that day, the animal sees its shadow and returns to its burrow, which results in the forecasting of six more weeks of winter weather, prolonging the arrival of Spring. Hence the TV weatherman, Phil Connors, was present on Groundhog Day in small town Pennsylvania.
The creative team behind this production has enjoyed critical acclaim for A Christmas Carol – another great story about personal redemption – as well as Matilda The Musical which continues to play at Cambridge Theatre, London. Groundhog Day is directed by Matthew Warchus with music and lyrics by the inimitable Tim Minchin, based on the screenplay by Danny Rubin.
Groundhog Day is a comedic parable of love, hope and transformation. Turning it into a musical adds extra layers of joy and exuberance. The first half of the show ran on high octane energy and by the interval I felt as worn out as Phil Connors who pleaded ‘please make it stop’. I was exhausted not only by the very loud music, but also the manic energy and psychological unravelling of the protagonist. The scene with the alternative therapist, Stuck, was very funny, a lacerating look at those who purport to offer help to those who are desperate and paying. The second half revealed the transformation of Phil Connors into a compassionate man who learns to listen rather than to live a life driven by his ego and the selfish satisfaction of his desires. There were some lovely and poignant songs in this quieter section of the musical especially Hope, Everything About You and Night Will Come.
Andy Karl who won the Olivier award for best actor in Groundhog Day is back in the leading role as Phil Connors. He was very energetic in his portrayal of a man stuck in an existential crisis who descends into a manic, almost psychotic state, and then finds the path to redemption by putting one good foot in front of the other. Tanisha Spring was terrific as Rita and she was the character I found most convincing. She had a lovely singing voice and her character development felt sincere.
The staging of Groundhog Day was superb. One would need to see the show repeatedly in order to fully appreciate the interplay of excellent sets and costumes (Rob Howell) and the lighting (Hugh Vanstone) which was a constantly shifting visual feast, or tricks such as the scene where Connors keeps killing himself and re-appearing on stage, seemingly in two places at one time. The use of puppetry with small cars and vans was a very clever and effective device. Choreography (Lizzi Gee) was stylish and exuberant and the ensemble cast kept up a tremendous energy.
Does Groundhog Day work as a musical? Certainly it does, although perhaps it is an unlikely vehicle for a story that encapsulates philosophical ideas from Buddhism to Nietzsche. All the component parts are in place – great lyrics, fine singing, great sets and visual effects, good choreography and ensemble work. It is a fun night of entertainment with deeper layers of meaning and message about how to live one’s life.
Any show that is reprised after seven years has to be appraised with contemporary eyes. Most of the show feels relevant to our times although there are one or two scenes that might have been written differently today. Post #MeToo, the lyrics in Playing Nancy might have been written a little differently nowadays. The behaviour of Phil Connors towards Rita, his associate producer, might now get him a reckoning with HR and a case to answer about sexual harassment rather than her falling in love with him, which felt a bit saccharine. But that is the romantic comedy as it plays out in Groundhog Day. A comedic production with deeper and darker layers that are painful and disturbing.
Ultimately, Connors learns to live in the moment and to appreciate the small pleasures in a small town. His ego-driven narcissism gives way to hedonism, nihilism, opportunism and eventually he begins to accept the situation he is trapped in and to find that good deeds snowball into a lot of good deeds which ultimately makes him a good person, ready to re-enter the real world. Thus he opens himself to true connection with other good people and learns to appreciate the dawn of a new day, one where he no longer needs to make any predictions.
Groundhog Day plays at The Old Vic until 19 August
The Old Vic,
103 The Cut,
London
SE1 8NB
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