PICS: Rehearsals for Tim Minchin's Groundhog Day starring Andy Karl

Rehearsal images have been released for Tim Minchin's musical adaptation of Groundhog Day at the Old Vic. The show opens at the Old Vic on 16th August (previews from 15th July) and runs until 17th September 2016. Check out the rehearsal images below (click picture to enlarge). 

Groundhog Day stars Andy Karl as Phil Connors, Carlyss Peer as Rita and Eugene McCoy as Larry as well as Leo Andrew, David Birch, Ste Clough, Roger Dipper, Georgina Hagen, Kieran Jae, Julie Jupp, Andrew Langtree, Vicki Lee Taylor, Emma Lindars, Antonio Magro, Carolyn Maitland, Kirsty Malpass, Lisa Mathieson, Jenny O’Leary, Leanne Pinder, Mark Pollard, Damien Poole, Jack Shalloo, Andrew Spillett and Spencer Stafford.

Dates confirmed for Tim Minchin's Groundhog Day at the Old Vic starring Andy Karl

Dates have been confirmed for Tim Minchin's musical adaptation of Groundhog Day at the Old Vic.

With book by Danny Rubin and choreography by Peter Darling, the musical is directed by Matthew Warchus who previously collaborated with Minchin on Matilda.

The show will open at the Old Vic on 16th August 2016 (previews from 11th July). Tickets go on priority sale today (10th March) and general sale from 12th April 2016.

Old Vic announces first Variety Night starring Tim Minchin

The Old Vic has announced the first of its Variety Nights which will take place on Sunday 15th November 2015. 

The line-up will feature entertainment from a wide variety of talents including the multi-award-winning musician, actor and comedian Tim Minchin, the acclaimed magician Dynamo, comedian Mark Watson and a performance by the Tredegar Town Band.

Artistic director Matthew Warchus said: "Three of my favourite things are music, magic and comedy, hence my eagerness to introduce a series of Old Vic Variety Nights. We're looking forward to seeing the Old Vic lit up on a Sunday night welcoming all kinds of audiences... to see famous faces mixed with new talent in evenings of laughter, fun and really great entertainment."

GOSSIP: Could Groundhog Day musical open at the Old Vic if workshop is a success?

According to the Daily Mail, Matthew Warchus and Tim Minchin are planning a second workshop in March for their musical adaptation of Groundhog Day. If successful, Baz Bamigboye reports the show will run at the Old Vic next year.

Described as an American fantasy comedy, the 1993 film Groundhog Day was directed by Harold Ramis and starred Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell and Chris Elliott.

Jesus Christ Superstar arena tour to return in 2013

The UK arena tour of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s legendary rock classic Jesus Christ Superstar will return next year. The show returns to the UK by popular demand, after receiving overwhelming praise during its initial UK run from both audiences and critics alike. The run was seen by over 150,000 thousand people, breaking previous audience records with 74,000 fans seeing the show its opening weekend.

Award-winning Tim Minchin as ‘Judas Iscariot’, Spice Girl Melanie C as ‘Mary Magdalene’ and Chris Moyles as ‘King Herod’. Winner of ITV’s Superstar, Ben Forster, also returns in the title role of ‘Jesus’.

Jesus Christ Superstar Arena Tour for DVD Release and US Tour?

The current arena tour of Jesus Christ Superstar will be filmed and released on DVD on the 19th November 2012. The production will also be broadcast to over 6,000 cinemas in Australia and America. 

The show, which stars Ben Forster, Mel C, Tim Minchin and Chris Moyles, is currently on a UK tour that returns to London, at the Wembley Arena, on the 17th October.

Full casting announced for Jesus Christ Superstar UK arena tour

At last the full casting has been announced for the upcoming UK arena tour of Jesus Christ Superstar. Alexander Hanson and two Superstar contestants join Ben Forster, Tim Minchin, Mel C and Chris Moyles to complete the cast.

Alexander Hanson will play Pilate, the Roman leader who "washes his hands" of the crucifixion. Jeff Anderson and Tim Prottey-Jones, both of whom reached the Superstar live finals, will feature in the ensemble, with Jeff Anderson understudying Jesus and Tim Prottey-Jones understudying Judas. 

Sneek Peak at Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar

So, as we all know the latest reality TV programme to find a new West End Star to play the lead role of Jesus in a new arena tour of Jesus Christ Superstar will be hitting our screens soon. Andrew Lloyd Webber's ITV programme named 'Superstar' is described as "a brand new show that will give the British public the chance to choose the country’s next major rock star." 

As previously announced, man of the moment, Tim Minchin will star as Judas. He will be joined by Chris Moyles as King Herod and Mel C as Mary Magdalene. This tour looks like it should not be missed as some dates are already sold out!

The first trailer for the new programme which will be on our screens soon has just been released - check it out below! (Warning - it's camp)

Find out everything at http://superstar.itv.com/.

More Jesus Christ Superstar Tour Casting Announced - Twitter Goes Mad!

So after it was recently announced that Tim Minchin had been cast as Judas in the upcoming arena tour of Jesus Christ Superstar it has today been announced that he will be joined by Chris Moyles as King Herod, the comedy character in show. I know the show well and think the part is suited to Chris. However I can't help but think that the main reason for casting him is because of his celebrity status. It looks like Andrew Lloyd Webber is determined not to have any empty seats as they will have a reality TV winner (not Pudsy the dog from BGT hopefully) playing Jesus, a popular Radio presenter, the multi talented upcoming King of the West End Tim Minchin and of course... a Spice Girl! That's right, a musical is not complete without a Spice Girl! Mel C is playing Mary Magdalene (not Nicole Scherzinger). 


While I don't want to judge these performers before I see them I can't help but think there are many other West End performers who are even more talented and even more suited to these roles (I am not talking about Tim Minchin here who is an experienced performer). 

The producers of the show will be happy as twitter went crazy with people voicing their opinions - making everyone aware of the tour. I read tones of tweets however one that stood out for me was composed by Mark Evans (@MarkHEvans), who is currently playing Sam Wheat in Ghost The Musical. This is what he had to say:

"Lots of tweets about JCS casting! I'm not a promoter of celebrity casting but just think of things from the producers point of view it's the only way to try and get your head round some of the 'odd' decisions that seem to get announced, but in my opinion- don't judge until you've seen the show! Look at how sceptical everyone was about Sheridan Smith being announced as Elle in Legally Blonde an as soon as she opened and did an amazing job and got rave reviews everyone jumped on board saying "I knew she'd be good"- let's just wait to see what Jesus Christ Superstar will be like and give the cast a chance. Celebrity or not, they are still people who possibly don't deserve so much negativity just from having their names in a press release."

Mark makes a fair point, so until I have seen these celebrities in action I will not judge. In the meantime why don't you watch this video of Chris Moyles appearing on Celebrity X Factor...

As always I would love to find out what you think about this