See it if You want to have fun at the theater, ant to see a Broadway veteran in a star-making role, and just want to smile--for a lot of reasons.
Don't see it if You want angst, need depth in your musicals, or don't enjoy comedy.
See it if you want a light fun show. Andy Karl is excellent as the lead
Don't see it if you are impatient and don't like repetition.
See it if love the music of Tim Minchin or the original movie. The staging is mind blowingly brilliant. It doesn't feel redundant.
Don't see it if you didn't like the movie.
See it if You enjoy the concept of someone who is stuck in a repeating day, or liked the movie.
Don't see it if You didn't like the movie, or dislike the idea of someone stuck in a repeating day or find it boring. Read more
See it if you want to see a very good, super entertaining musical - and if you know & liked the movie, then it's even better. Great fun & worthwhile
Don't see it if You're looking for great philosophical insights (tho there are some), you didn't like the movie, you're not interested in fantasy...
See it if You loved the movie, or like your comedy on the cynical side. It's not a carbon of the movie, and brings its own charm and punch.
Don't see it if You want a typical rom-com. This is a cynical, dark, off-beat...it's a matter of taste. Read more
See it if You enjoy hilarious, well staged, slightly left-of-center musicals based on movies. MUCH better than it has any right to be.
Don't see it if You're looking for anything too serious or turned off by (comical) sequences involving suicide. Read more
See it if you want to be wowed by some inventive and whimsical staging.
Don't see it if you rely on a catchy score or aren't ok with a little repetition.
"An entertainment that is often compelling but occasionally fitful. The show has a major asset in the performance of Andy Karl...With 'Groundhog Day,' as with 'Rocky,' he is forced to do extra-heavy lifting...As for the musical itself, the songs kept me from fully slipping under its spell; the most memorable element for me, other than the star’s performance, was a daffy redneck car-chase in miniature, which is exhilarating. But Karl, by himself, is reason to see 'Groundhog Day.'"
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"Andy Karl is such a charming, likable performer that he is reason enough to see this Broadway musical...The problem of including loads of repetition without inducing boredom is solved with some success, particularly in the second act. The music and lyrics by Tim Minchin are workmanlike. My main complaint about the show is that it is overproduced...I was also annoyed by the gratuitous profanity; dropping an F-bomb serves no purpose other than titillation."
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“Exhilarating...‘Groundhog Day’ combines an innovative premise with a fresh, eclectic score influenced by many genres…Andy Karl rockets into the stratosphere in ‘Groundhog Day’…He’s equally credible and fun as a snide lout, a drunken lech, or a budding humanitarian, plus his vocals and physical movement skills are top-notch. The surrounding production, inventively staged by Matthew Warchus, is a feast of the imagination.”
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“Karl holds the piece together with unflagging charisma…Writer Danny Rubin maintains his hero’s dark disposition and wit, Rita’s resistance, and the loopy friendliness of townspeople...Now for the disappointing and unfortunately prevailing Column B...Songwriter Tim Minchin offers mostly tuneless numbers with prose that unsuccessfully fights to fit music. Though lyrics can be extremely clever, they don’t sing…The only person with developed personality traits is Connors."
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""An ambitious but disjointed new musical...If watching Karl bristle and turn his nose up at a fun-house parody of small-town America doesn’t sound like a great time to you, you may want to sit out act one—'Groundhog Day’s' perfectly enjoyable second half might even make more sense to you that way...Once the show lurches past its repetitive and busy setup, the pleasures of director Matthew Warchus’ imaginative staging are easier to appreciate."
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"I saw Andy Karl in 'Groundhog Day' on Thursday, and he was terrific. So, in fact, was the show, an ingenious, witty, dark yet joyously offbeat musical...Minchin’s music beguiles with odd phrase lengths and wildly unpredictable, amusing lyrics, while director Matthew Warchus and his first-rate cast take us through the day and its many conflations with a light touch that belies the head-spinning concept and scenic intricacy."
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"Tim Minchin’s musical is as hilarious as it is bracing. Matthew Warchus' production has only grown in vividness and confidence since its premiere at the Old Vic last summer...Warchus and his expert collaborators have brought a finely tuned balance of Broadway-scale polish and an English-infused ironic pathos to the show that makes its constant repetitions worth revisiting."
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"A fabulous musical adaptation...Karl is a phenomenon as Connors...He is bursting with an infectious charisma and bewitching energy that envelops the audience from the very start and never lets go...He’s helped tremendously by an outstanding book that really understands the heart and soul of the film...The songs flow seamlessly into the story, with some brilliant surprises...Director Matthew Warchus never allows the show to get boring, despite so much repetition."
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