Broadway Rewind: GROUNDHOG DAY Gets Ready for Broadway with Andy Karl & More!

Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World

The new musical Groundhog Day, which is based on the hit film, will open on April 17th at the August Wilson Theatre

And we drop by the rehearsal room to bring you a sneak peek and to meet the company, led by the show's leading man, Andy Karl

Never again will I wake in the morning in Huxitani It's a little town with a heart as big as any town

There's nothing more depressing than a small town In the USA and there is no town smaller than Paxitania on Groundhog

There's nothing more depressing than a small town in the USA and there is no town smaller than Paxitania

Paxitania, Paxitania on Groundhog. Just kill me now. Dave! You know, we did a tryout of this show at the Oldwick Theatre in London, but really this is the beginning

really of a quintessentially American story done with an American cast and it's a story I care a

lot about and I'm excited for the surprises that are in store. I think people who know Groundhog

Day might not realize what kind of emotional impact it can have and it's a strange mixture

of comedy, romance, and quite sort of in-depth, profound, almost wisdom. It's kind of parable about how to live your life

And I love that mash-up of those things. So I'm excited to surprise people

Working with Tim and Matthew for the last four years, really, has been just such a pleasure

It's been the best collaboration I've ever had. Was it always a dream of yours at some point to turn this into a musical

or how did it happen for you? Yes, I knew from very early on that this was something that I wanted to do and I knew that I had the ability to do it and it was just a matter of getting around to it and finding the right partners

So talk about the concept of how the music and the lyrics fit into the story Completely It was completely integrated Tim and I were together on it from the very beginning

and I brought in my ideas, and he brought in his, and we worked them together

and sometimes these great ideas would pop up in a lyric, and sometimes they'd pop up in a scene

and it was a very long conversation that went on until we felt we got it right

A man my age, it's nice to know I can. It's nice to know I can. If I had my time again

I'd sample all the samples, look at things from different angles. I would not do it all the same if I had my time again

Nancy is on surface, you would say she's perhaps one of those

I only care what I look like and my hair and my makeup and outward appearances

is the initial thought. But then luckily in the musical and what they've done brilliantly

is you get to see kind of the underlayer and a bit deeper than that

which is what really drew me to the character, which I think they do so brilliantly in this

Was this one of your favorite movies that you sort of grew up on? I had seen Groundhog Day, but when I had the audition

I had to go back and watch it again. And it's one of those, you go, oh, yeah, this is such a good movie

And then you go, oh, yeah, it's really funny. I forgot how funny it was. And then you think, oh

And it really wraps up nicely at the end. And it's this beautiful romantic comedy

It must be really cool to have one of your favorite movies that you were sort of brought up on it. And now you're starring in the musical version

Yeah, it's amazing. And I'm a big fan of Stephen Tobolowsky, who plays Ned Ryerson in the movie

And I really hope to be able to meet him and say, hey. And, you know, the character is, he's an amazing guy

He's a Midwestern guy. He's happy and he smiles through everything and he's got that Midwestern charm and optimism

And he's kind of the opposite of Phil, but it's a real joy to play him. And for fans of the movie, we have a little surprise about Ned and who he is

And I can't wait to share that with people. One day someday my prince may come But I won hold my breath There only divorcees and weirdos left

And weird is fine, but not all the time. One day, someday, my prince will come

Or so the fairy tale said, 30 years later, still in my head

But if I screw a frog, I will wake in a four-poster bed

What a brand new musical. Oh, God, it's so exciting. It's what I've always wanted to do

That's why it was so, I mean, it blew me out of the water when I got the call about this

I was so excited. And the show coming from the movie, which I was a fan of when I was a kid

it just all came full circle. It's really amazing. Talk about this great role that's sort of being made for you. Yeah

Well, Rita is a strong, smart, sarcastic, kind of too loud, too aggressive sometimes

but she's got a lot going on, and I think that's what's so fun about it

I love being able to kind of stretch her and see how many directions we can take her

because she sort of talks too much, laughs too loud. She's that kind of person

First of all, welcome back to Broadway, my friend. How does it feel? They keep calling me back in

It's a groundhog day. No, I'm just kidding. It's a great return

to Broadway after being in London with this show and being able to revisit it again has been so much fun

I thought it was going to be like, oh, I get to say my lines. Everybody catch up to me. It's all about me. It's not

What's great about the show is that it's such an exploratory thing through myself, but also with the other characters in the show

And this cast is just phenomenal. I was talking to your director. Matthew said

you do everything and you do it so well. You do comedy, you act, you sing, the emotional journey this character takes you on

and you as a leading man. I mean, what's it been like working on this

You know, when you work on a brand new show, it's all made on you and for you

Yeah I think well look I was given a gift when they handed me that script because it really funny And it explores this piece Groundhog Day in a whole other uplifted way

We can go a little bit darker. We can go a little bit funnier. We can do a lot of things that you can't do with a movie

Obviously, you can cut and repeat the same days. But here on stage, it's got to be seen over and over again

So that's going to be a big surprise when people watch the magic of that. It's going to be so fun

but yeah I think that's what drew me to this piece was when once I got to the end of the page

I realized that you know Phil Connors is the antagonist in the beginning and becomes this

profound protagonist at the end and there's this huge journey and he basically lives lifetimes over

and over and over again I think I love that concept of that idea it speaks to so many of us

that, you know, I mean, I've been in these studios, I can't tell you how many times, and there's some

easy things to draw off of when I'm, when I think of the repeating thing, I could just look at

everything, and I've seen this all before, what am I doing with my life, am I not appreciating it

so there's some big, big lessons to be learned with the show, and that's what I really am so

drawn to this piece, and I can't wait to show everybody. I'm fine and I'm seeing you

For the first time, I'm alright and I'm seeing you