it's gonna entertain ya

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I've joked--I think more than once--about creating a one man show version of Groundhog Day, I've shared how my daughter recently dreamed about being in a stage production of Groundhog Day. So, it should come as no surprise that Groundhog Day may soon be a musical. Broadway World proclaims:

MATILDA THE MUSICAL's Tim Minchin and Matthew Warchus could have theatergoers returning again and again... and again for their upcoming musical adaptation of the 1993 movie GROUNDHOG DAY.

Danny Rubin, who doesn't tweet very often, confirmed the news with a photo of himself with Tim Minchin.

Now, I haven't seen the musical version of Matilda; I'm not sure it's even come to Los Angeles yet. But, I like Minchin's other musical works, comedic songs like "You Grew On Me" or "Prejudice." I've got a good feeling about this project.

It won't just be a copy of the film, of course. Minchin writes on his blog:

Our version of Groundhog Day is going to be both instantly recognizable, and utterly different.

The central conceit is perfectly suited to the theatre, in my opinion. In fact, I think many of its ideas could be enhanced by the stage. It has the potential to be complex, dark, visually fascinating, and thematically rich, whilst still being a joyous romantic comedy with cool tunes and lots of gags. It’s certainly not an easy job, and I’m truly honoured – and genuinely excited – that Danny is letting me have a crack at it.

Workshops are coming in the spring or summer, and then it will open in London or New York. So, timewise, geographically, this won't get to be covered much by this blog. But still, I like the idea of it. I like Groundhog Day... obviously. I like musicals. The combination--that can be nothing but entertaining, and possibly amazing.

In other news, from a comment on Minchin's blog to the official Woodstock events schedule, I have just learned that Danny Rubin himself will be in Woodstock this weekend, a special guest at the symposium I plan to attend.

Anyway, Rolling Stone quotes Minchin as saying, "Maybe the whole project will get caught in a temporal vortex... and we won't be able to finish writing it until we've achieved wisdom."

Let's hope Minchin, Warchus and/or Rubin achieve wisdom sooner rather than later.

Today's reason to repeat a day forever: to get that one-man show version of Groundhog Day completed already.

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