CREATORS of the successful Matilda the Musical in the West End are about to launch a new show based on the 1993 film Groundhog Day with local boy Eugene McCoy among the cast.

It opens at the Old Vic theatre in London this summer.

"I am working with Tim Minchin, Matthew Warchus and Peter Darling which is like a dream come true,” said McCoy, who plays Larry.

Youngest son of Eugene and Barbara McCoy, who run the Crathorne Arms in North Yorkshire, he has an impressive list of credits.

It all began when, aged three, he joined elder sister Maimie at dance class and found something he was passionate about.

The experience, which continued until he was 12, he relates to being like the film Billy Elliot as he was one of only two boys at Bradley’s School of Dance. Tutor Betty Bradley instilled a sense of discipline that has served him well.

He comes from a family of artists – Maimie is an actress – musicians and performers.

He spent a lot of his childhood in the family's Tontine Restaurant where his father instilled a work ethic while his mother taught him respect for others, which has helped in a business where there are many difficult egos to deal with.

"Saturday night at the Tontine was like show time,” he said. “When I was a waiter there, I would watch my father work the room making everyone feel special. This had a huge influence on me."

At Stokesley School he was involved in stage productions, including playing a tap-dancing Artful Dodger with Maimie as Nancy in Oliver!

"Gradually the pieces came together and I knew I wanted to perform and that I wanted to be in London,” he said.

He attended Arts Ed from 2001-4 and, after firmly believing the show he would least like to be in was Mama Mia, after leaving college was cast as Eddie and loved it.

Despite having to apply fake tan twice a week and looking, in his words, like an orange Dale Winton, he stayed in the show for 18 months, though he thought he might lose his job when he set off the fire alarm by mistake and the audience of 1,200-plus cast had to be evacuated in the middle of the show. He didn't.

McCoy has had roles in Guys and Dolls, They’re Playing our Song, Little Shop of Horrors and Oklahoma. His big break came when he was cast as Nick Massi in Jersey Boys. It was then he began to fulfil his dream.

“ I was flown to New York to rehearse and learn the show on Broadway," he said. “It was magical. I used to have breakfast in a diner, walk through the snow to rehearsals and sit with a gin and tonic in Balthazars learning the script.”

He was in the show for three years. Then came the part of Prez in the Pyjama Game with director, Richard Eyre, and he played David Van Patten in the world premiere of American Psycho at the Almeida Theatre.

“It’s not a glamorous life," he said. "Rejections are tough and I couldn’t attend my best friend’s wedding because of work commitments, but I love it. Because Maimie is in the business, she helps me, and my brother Rory, who runs two restaurants, is also in London."

Groundhog Day opens at the Old Vic on July 11.

Jan Hunter