In 1993, the world fell in love with the granny who can hip-hop, bebop, dance till ya drop in the Christopher Columbus film Mrs. Doubtfire. With a cast featuring Sally Field, Pierce Brosnan and a young Mara Wilson, the film ultimately solidified Robin Williams’ career not only as a stand-up comedian or in more mature movies, but finding a niche in family-centric cinema. In 2020, a musical adaptation of the film had planned to open that April with previews in March 2020. The show played a few previews before the lockdowns halted opening night. After lockdowns eased, the Mrs. Doubtfire opened at the Stephen Sondheim Theater on Broadway and after it closed in May 2022, a national tour launched with its star Rob McClure as the titular nanny. Mrs. Doubtfire’s tour comes to the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale now until April 21 with tickets available here.

During a voiceover recording session, we meet Daniel Hillard (Rob McClure) a voice actor who after being canned from a project resolves to pick up his three kids Lydia (Giselle Gutierrez), Christopher (at this performance played by Cody Braverman) and Natalie Hillard (at this performance played by Emerson Mae Chan) from school. On Christopher’s birthday, Daniel’s wife Miranda (Maggie Lakis) implores that because of Christopher’s low grades he cannot have a “big” birthday party. Daniel, childishly shirking his wife’s request, throws Christopher a massive birthday bash, complete with a soccer-themed stripper. Miranda, walking into the chaos with a cake realizes it’s the last straw and resolves to divorce Daniel. Forced to move into a destitute apartment, his case worker Wanda Sellner (Romelda Teron Benjamin) monitors him as he has to gain employment and clean up his apartment before the Judge grants him partial custody of his children. As his teen daughter Lydia grows cold to Daniel’s antics, he clings to the custody hours he gets exclaiming “you are still my goddamn children!”

Daniel resolves to take Miranda’s online listing for a babysitter by logging into her San Fran Nannies account and after calling her from various spoofed phone numbers as different accented voices, from a Satanic teenager to a Spanish man speaking broken English, he finally resolves on a British nanny character that gets an interview with Miranda. In a frenzy to disguise himself, Daniel reaches out to his brother, a TV show makeup artist Frank Hillard (Aaron Kaburick) and his partner Andre Mayem (Nik Alexander). In a lavish, yet obligatory makeover number “Make Me a Woman” the pair resolve to transform Daniel into “Eleanor Roosevelt, with a dash of Julia Child, Margaret Thatcher, Janet Reno and a little bit of Oscar Wilde.” 

I grew up with Robin Williams’ films as a kid whether he was Genie in Aladdin, Armond in The Birdcage and especially as Euphegenia Doubtfire, there is no denying that the enigmatic actor was best in roles specifically written for or catering to his strengths– mile-a-minute laughs informed by pathos from the depths of the human soul. Roles like the Genie were written for Williams and Mrs. Doubtfire, while based on a character from the Anne Fine novel Madame Doubtfire, was inevitably informed by Williams penchant for impersonation. Williams’ personal life may have also played a factor with his becoming a father and a public divorce from Valerie Velardi in 1988. 

Bringing Mrs. Doubtfire to the stage, the creative team similarly sticks to an ethos of sticking to Rob McClure’s many strengths. With previous Broadway stage credits in Beetlejuice, Honeymoon in Vegas, and Avenue Q showing only an amuse bouche of the actor’s impeccable chops for musical comedy, here in Doubtfire we are given a full buffet of his immense range. McClure is given an extremely tall order of physical comedy in numbers like “Easy Peasy” where he not only tap dances while donning a latex mask and foam bodysuit underneath a corduroy granny gown, as well as, a sequence where Daniel playing with a looper, beatboxes and raps in a scene that gets the attention of TV producer Janet Lundy (Jodi Kimura). 

There is zero doubt that Rob McClure is a massive star in the world of musical comedy, from his vast repertoire of impersonations and laser-precise comedic delivery. Yet, it seems like the show’s book writers Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell missed the mark in writing any substantial material for other characters. Karey Kirkpatrick, with his brother Wayne also wrote the music and lyrics for the show, the trio of the Kirkpatricks and O’Farrell having previously worked together on the Broadway smash musical comedy Something Rotten. Unfortunately, that title works far better on the music of Doubtfire as the songs are immensely bland and forgettable. You won’t find yourself with the music stuck in your head after you leave the theater, since ultimately they provide set dressing for each of the show’s moments, with plenty from the film audiences will recognize.

The original film features Sally Field who, as Miranda, is crafted as a perfect foil to Daniel that herself was grounded yet had her own comedic moments. Here, Maggie Lakis performs Miranda with a coldness that comes off as “business lady in a Hallmark movie” type. Miranda’s character in this iteration is flattened and McClure’s real wife Maggie Lakis plays the role in a way with a steadfast resolve that with the material feels like there is no insight into why she would consider divorcing Daniel and go on dating her business partner Stuart Dunmire (Leo Roberts) until the show’s Second Act ballad “Let Go.”  Even at the iconic re-creation of “the whole time?” sequence, the reveal is played entirely for laughs and while Lakis leans into the moment, it lacks the gravitas of the film.

Yet, as Maggie is underwritten, the show tries to flesh out some of the film’s secondary cast. The children here are given a greater emotional core. Ultimately all their traits play into their father’s love for them to provide the show’s emotional core, with Lydia being forced to mature to make up for her father’s immaturity, Christopher’s bad grades coddled by his dad’s behavior and Natalie’s anxiety coming from her parents’ fighting. The show attempts to modernize and musical-ize these traits to connect to current audience sensibilities, to fairly mixed results. There is no doubt the cast has chemistry, but in trying to adapt a tender story about family for the stage it feels like the tone gets lost in translation.

One of the overarching criticisms of the show coming to Broadway is telling yet another story using the “Man in a Dress” trope and its relationship to modern LGBTQ+ people. With films like “Tootsie,” “Juwanna Mann” and “Some Like It Hot” featuring a plot about men disguising themselves in drag for various reasons, the public perceptions of this media has changed as trans and gender non-conforming individuals fight for their respective rights and regressive rhetoric targeting them as being “deceptive.” In the musical adaptation, you will not see Christopher catching Mrs. Doubtfire using the bathroom and being called a “he-she,” or noticing Daniel’s hairy legs, but the show relies on a level of deception for Daniel to be able to see his children. While this comedy was present in the original film, it represents a part of the culture of the time when this trope in media was more prevalent. As LGBTQ+ continue to fight hateful rhetoric that challenges their very existence, we have to ask— does an adaptation of the Doubtfire story that has nothing to say about gender or femininity in a way that isn’t just played for laughs hold up today? Well, the show does make some commentary with its established LGBTQ+ characters.

Frank, originally played by Harvey Fierstein is now given a bigger role along with his husband Andre. Aaron Kaburick plays Daniel’s brother as a neurotic TV station stylist that in one of the show’s grating comedic devices only yells when he is lying. You would think that with the general “rule of thirds” in comedy that device would be used far more sparingly than it is in this show. His husband Andre, played by Nik Alexander is given an emotional plot line of wanting to adopt a baby as a way of distracting Ms. Sellner during a visit to Daniel’s apartment as he has to don the Doubtfire drag. While Andre and Frank’s relationship could be an endearing plot point, it’s hard to overlook the couple as anything more than campy stereotypes as they prattle on about Madonna and Donna Summer, reinforcing the lack of LGBTQ+ creatives involved in this show. Frankly the most empowering LGBTQ+ representation in the show is in the Playbill, from Ensemble member Jonathan Hoover, who you may recognize from TikTok and now American Horror Story as Patti Lupone. Hoover, in his Playbill bio states “But most importantly, if you enjoyed today’s show, please consider donating to the ACLU’s Drag Defense Fund at action.aclu.org/give/support-drag-defense-fund.”

What really steals the show here aside from and in tandem to Rob McClure’s performance are the outfits crafted by Tony-winning Costume Designer Catherine Zuber and Hair and Wig Designer David Brian Brown. In the original film, the Doubtfire makeup took Robin Williams about eight hours in the chair every time. Here on stage, a breathtaking eighteen second quick change snaps the prosthetic face into place with full flexibility to look like McClure’s actual face. In bringing Marit Allen’s original granny dress for the stage, she creates a truly malleable form that can be switched in and out of in a matter of seconds on stage that also gives McClure the flexibility to act, sing and dance in a full range of motion, especially with full padding on. The secondary cast and ensemble are outfitted with a range of ready to wear to bespoke re-creations of Princess Diana, Cher, or Eleanor Roosevelt. 

Mrs. Doubtfire is a sure-fire vehicle featuring Rob McClure as one of the greatest musical theater stars of our generation. Though it is at its core, a faithful re-telling of the iconic Robin Williams film, McClure more than handily takes up the mantle in a role that feels tailored to show off every skill the multi-faceted performer brings to the stage. Mrs. Doubtfire’s tour comes to the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale now until April 21 with tickets available here.