Matilda Composer Tim Minchin Talks About His Upcoming Groundhog Day Musical

He’s hard at work, and we’re waiting like there's no tomorrow. As previously reported, Tim Minchin is writing the score for a stage adaptation of the 1993 movie Groundhog Day. The Tony nominee participated in a Q&A with the U.K.’s The Guardian on July 16, in which he discussed the project’s latest steps.

“We’ve finished the first workshop on Saturday in London,” the Australian musician and comedian revealed. “It’s looking exciting, but it’s so hard to know how good it’s going to be. I’m incredibly impatient to see it on its feet.”

As confirmed in January, the Matilda composer/lyricist is collaborating with the film’s screenwriter Danny Rubin and Matilda director Matthew Warchus.

While Minchin didn’t give too much away regarding the new tuner, he did share that he has written a new song for it “about the inevitability of death that would be perfect” for a funeral. Ooh, sounds fun!

Groundhog Day follows TV weather man Phil (played by Bill Murray on screen), who reluctantly goes to cover the story of Punxsutawney Phil for the third year in a row. Making no effort to hide his frustration, he covers the story and moves on, expecting his job to be finished. However, he awakes the "following" day and discovers that it's Groundhog Day again, and the fun happens again and again and again. 

So, what else did Minchin chat about with The Guardian? Among other things, the Pope, the “awesome” Bobby Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez and the “sexualized Tinkerbell-land” politics of Frozen. Say what?!