Producers GWB Entertainment has announced that the award-winning Groundhog Day The Musical will make its Australian premiere in Melbourne.

Direct from its return season at London’s Old Vic (where it has become the highest-grossing production in that theatre’s history), the Matthew Warchus-directed production will play exclusively at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre, for a limited season from January 2024. Tickets go on sale 9am Friday 6 October. Casting announcements are yet to be made.

Based on the 1993 film and from the creatives behind Matilda The Musical (including Warchus and songwriter Tim Minchin), this Tony-nominated and Olivier Award-winning musical tells the story of a cynical Pittsburgh TV weatherman caught in a 24-hour time loop while covering the annual Groundhog Day event in the small town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

Chris Jenkins, Nick Hayes and Andy Karl in the Groundhog Day The Musical at the Old Vic.

After premiering at London’s Old Vic in August 2016 to rapturous reviews, including a five-star critique in Limelight, Groundhog Day opened at the August Wilson Theatre on Broadway in April 2017.

The show scored a rave in the New York Times critic Ben Brantley, who...