Joan Marcus
Way back in 1993, Robin Williams was cast in what would become one of his most popular movies, the family comedy Mrs. Doubtfire which saw Williams take on the role of Mrs. Euphegenia Doubtfire, an older Scottish nanny hired to watch over his children after he and his wife divorce. Williams in drag was comedy gold, the film won an Oscar for the make-up, and Golden Globes for Best Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Actor – Musical or Comedy for Williams. A sequel to the film was actually being considered before Williams’ untimely and tragic passing. Flash-forward to 2021 and a stage musical adaptation of the film hit Broadway (after about six years of development, a complete change in the creative personnel working on the show, and the Broadway shutdown in 2020 when the show was originally to debut). The show had a surprisingly short run, but star Rob McClure did score the show’s only Tony nomination, with two Drama Desk Awards nominations (and one win for Wig and Hair Design) and six Outer Critics Circle Awards nominations to its credit. A national tour was announced in 2023 with McClure set to reprise the lead role, and now the show has made a stop at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre.
If you’re unfamiliar with the story of Mrs. Doubtfire, it’s actually pretty simple, but heartfelt. Daniel Hillard (McClure) is a voice-over artists and an overgrown child. Wife Miranda (Maggie Lakis) puts up with his shenanigans but after telling him that their son does not get a big birthday party because of his bad grades, Daniel throws him one anyway (with the awkward and totally accidental appearance of a stripper who arrives just ahead of Miranda). Needing to focus on her career of designing athleisure wear, Miranda files for divorce and is granted custody of the children with Daniel having them on Saturdays. The children are his world and he begs for leniency, and the judge gives him three months to shape up, get a job and find a place to live if he wants joint custody. Daniel does get an apartment that needs work, to put it mildly, and the only steady job he can get is as a janitor at a local TV station, but he is under the watchful eye of the court appointed watchdog Wanda Sellner (Romelda Teron Benjamin). During a visit from the kids, Daniel learns that Miranda is looking to hire a nanny to look after them between the hours of 3:00 and 7:00 as her business is about to take off. Daniel comes up with the idea of scuttling her plans by sabotaging her want ad and making calls as various potential nannies using his voice talents, all of them less than desirable candidates. He finally calls as the Scottish Mrs. Doubtfire with spotless credentials and gets an interview … and then realizes he’s not actually an older Scottish lady. With the help of his make-up artist brother Frank (Aaron Kaburick) and his husband Andre (Nik Alexander), they concoct a character who’s a little bit Margaret Thatcher with a dash of Julia Child (and a few others), and Miranda quickly falls under the woman’s charms. She feels she’s met Mrs. Doubtfire somewhere and she’s also surprised by how familiar the woman is with her kitchen (everything is labeled, Mrs. D. points out).
Things get complicated as Miranda begins working with and dating Stuart Dunmire (Leo Roberts), a dashing Brit, and Daniel’s oldest daughter Lydia (Giselle Gutierrez) and son Christopher (Cody Braverman) discover Mrs. Doubtfire’s true identity, but keep the truth from young Natalie (Emerson Mae Chan) for fear of her not being able to keep a secret (but poor Christopher is on the verge of a nervous breakdown worrying that his mother will find out). While Danile is at work one day, the station manager catches him performing his voices and characters during a break in the taping of a children’s show with a host long past his prime (someone quips he makes Mr. Rogers look like Harry Styles), and the manager wants to have a dinner meeting with Daniel to discuss his ideas for a new show. Meanwhile, Mrs. Doubtfire is invited to the launch of Miranda’a fashion line (and has to fill in for an absent plus-sized model), and is also invited to Miranda’s birthday dinner … the same night as Daniel’s dinner meeting at a restaurant across town. The meeting is changed to the same restaurant as the birthday party but will Daniel and Mrs. Doubtfire be able to be in the same place at the same time without being found out?
Joan Marcus
So, full disclosure — I have never seen the movie, so I went into the show with almost no point of references except for bits and pieces of clips and images I have seen. I know there are a few changes — Miranda is an interior designer in the film, and the whole family vacation scene has been replaced with the fashion show launch (but no worries, the famous ‘drive by frooting’ moment is still in the show). The changes don’t seem to have had an impact on the story according to the people who have seen both. With that out of the way, I still was unsure of how I was going to receive the show. Film-to-stage adaptations can be tricky, and if I’ve avoided the movie for this long I had concerns that the comedy in the show would be a little flat. That all went out the window almost as soon as the curtain went up because I was immediately charmed by McClure and company (and thankfully the children were not overly precocious), and fully on-board during the make-up testing ‘montage’ that turned into a major disco number with the full ensemble in various get-ups. It was eye-popping, joyful and hilarious and completely drew me in. The set design worked well with sets of the house, Daniel’s apartment, the TV station, the make-up studio and various flats with different San Francisco images on them flying in and out to cover major scene changes (probably a simplified version of the original Broadway staging), and the lighting design was outstanding. Costumes for most of the characters were average ‘off the rack’ fashions which befits the story and the characters, with Mrs. Doubtfire requiring several changes of dress and a fat suit. (Of course the disco number did include more flashy costumes.) The make-up for Mrs. Doubtfire was pretty amazing, applied and removed several times right in front of the audience. A prosthetic half-mask is quickly applied to McClure, attached with Velcro straps with a wig that must be held in place by magnets as it never moves during some of the more strenuous dance numbers. McClure presses his lips to a pad or sponge to quickly apply the lipstick, and a pair of glasses hides the edge of the mask below his eyes. The transformation is truly remarkable, and McClure is constantly in and out of the costume throughout the duration of the show.
Let’s talk about the rest of the cast before we get more into Mr. McClure. Maggie Lakis has a tough role as Miranda because she’s basically the ‘villain’ of the story but she has to be relatable and likable, and she really gets to be vulnerable during a heart-to-heart with Mrs. Doubtfire about what happened to her marriage, ending that talk with the song ‘Let Go’, putting her powerful voice to good use. Giselle Gutierrez is also outstanding as Lydia (trivia note — this is McClure’s second show with a Lydia character after Beetlejuice), giving us a little angry, snarky teen but still a character we can sympathize with, also showing off an impressive voice particularly in her duet with McClure, ‘Just Pretend’. Cody Braverman is hilarious as Christopher, especially as he gets frantic that his mom will find out the truth about the nanny (Axel Bernard Rimmele alternates in the role), and Emerson Mae Chan is adorable as young Natalie, with a nice voice and great comic timing (Kennedy Pitney alternates in the role). Aaron Kaburick is a scream, literally, as Frank, stealing the spotlight every time Frank has to lie, and Nik Alexander is funny and sassy as Andre, really getting to sparkle during the disco number (‘Make Me a Woman’). Romelda Teron Benjamin is a hoot as Wanda Sellner, who doesn’t know what to make of Daniel and his mysterious older sister (who isn’t his brother’s sister), and Leo Roberts is appropriately dashing as Stu, getting to show off his own magnificent voice with the gym set number ‘Big Fat No’. And David Hibbard as ancient TV host Mr. Jolly is hilarious (and I could not help think of Leslie Jordan in that role). Jodi Kimura as station manager Janet Lundy is also very funny and gets one of the show’s biggest laughs.
Joan Marcus
But Mr. Doubtfire belongs to Rob McClure. He knows this role like the back of his hand (I followed his journey during the creation of the show on social media) and it would have been a crime had anyone else played the part. McClure is always great. I’ve seen him in the Something Rotten tour, the pre-Broadway run of Beetlejuice, and the Broadway Center Stage production of Monty Python’s Spamalot at the Kennedy Center. He is a supremely talented performer and his ability to do different character voices is amazing as he whips through several in one scene, everyone from Homer and Marge Simpson to Gollum. His Scottish Mrs. Doubtfire voice is wonderful and sounds nothing like him. He has to give a very measured performance, from jovial dad to emotionally crushed dad to Scottish nanny to local TV performer. He does it all with such skill, and add to that the many changes between Daniel to Mrs. Doubtfire and back as well as singing in a Scottish accent and doing some amazing dance work in the fat suit, mask and heels, and it all adds up to a performance for the ages. McClure left Beetlejuice to take on this project, and it’s shocking that the Broadway run was so short, just 83 regular performances (and 43 previews), but now he gets to bring his skills and talents to the country once again, giving audiences sheer joy in the process. You can’t help but think Robin Williams is looking down on McClure as he performs and beams with pride. He is full of the same creativity that infused Williams’ performances while also making the character his own. This is a show, a role, tailor-made to showcase McClure’s talents and it is a performance not to be missed.
If you’re a fan of the movie or, like me, have never seen the movie — it doesn’t matter. Mrs. Doubtfire is 125 minutes of pure entertainment, but it also has heart and a wonderful message about family — all kinds of families — that will touch your heart and may give you a little tear in your eye as you cheer the cast at the end of the show. Mrs. Doubtfire is funny, charming, immensely entertaining and an absolute delight.
Mrs. Doubtfire runs about 2 hours and 35 minutes with an intermission. Recommended for theatergoers 8 years or older. Please note that this production uses strobing light effects in one scene.
Mrs. Doubtfire runs through February 4 at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre. Other cities on the schedule include Philadelphia, Rochester, Chicago, Memphis, Durham, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, Charlotte, Greenville, Los Angeles, San Francisco and more. Visit the official website for more information. Use our Ticketmaster link to purchase tickets.
Mrs. Doubtfire Broadway – North American Tour
Global Creatures
Check our Ticketmaster link for ticket availability.
Share this post
