– By Cate Marquis –
With a ringing “Hello, St. Louis,” the touring version of the hit London musical production “Mrs Doubtfire” strode onto the Fabulous Fox stage for a New Year’s season run through January 7. In recent years, there has been a spate of musicals adapted from hit movies, not all of which are worth audiences’ time, but “Mrs. Doubtfire” is the delightful exception to that dreary rule, a comedy standout that delights and goes well beyond expectations.
Part of the reason for that is the cast, plus the decision by the show’s creators to let the starring comedian to do his own style humor, instead of attempting the daunting task of channeling the late Robin Williams, the star of the movie. The basic story is the same – a dad in San Francisco, facing divorce, poses as a statuesque middle-aged nanny called Mrs. Doubtfire as a way to spend time with his children, with hilarious results – but some details are changed, although the comedy premise is unharmed.
Tony-nominated and beloved Broadway star Rob McClure was cast as the dad, Daniel Hillard, reprising his “exhilarating, star-making performance” in the touring production of the London hit show, with his real-life wife, actress Maggie Lakis, as Daniel’s wife Miranda.
But on opening night, understudy Alex Branton took over for McClure, but the audience might never noticed the substitution, because Branton was just hilarious and did a fabulous job. Branton filled the stage with comedy delights as dad Daniel Hillard and his alter-ego, eccentric Scottish nanny Mrs Doubtfire, and doing a top-notch music and comedy bit in the middle of the first act, and racing through the many on-stage, increasingly frantic costume changes the dual part required.
Although Alex Branton stepped in for Rob McClure on opening night as the dad Daniel, Daniel’s wife Miranda Hillard was still played by McClure’s real-life wife, Maggie Lakis. Branton was excellent as Daniel, an often-abrasive, egotistical, newly out-of-work actor who is less than helpful at home but still surprised when his wife boots him out and files for divorce. The judge awards temporary custody of their three children – teen Lydia (Giselle Gutierrez on opening night), worry-prone grade schooler Christopher (Cody Braverman on opening night), and pre-schooler Natalie (Emerson Mae Chan on opening night) – to mom Miranda while the divorce is proceeding. Daniel is required by the court to find a job and an apartment before he can see his kids, an requirement supervised by tart social worker Wanda Sellner (Romelda Teron Benjamin).
Desperate Daniel takes a job as a night cleaner at a TV station and finds a fixer-upper apartment, but the situation also prompts the dad to come up with the crazy idea of posing as a Scottish nanny, Euphegenia Doubtfire, when Miranda posts an ad for a nanny. Daniel is able to fool his family because he has a special talent for doing voices, and especially because he gets help from his brother Frank (Aaron Kaburick), a theatrical make-up expert who is also a nervous soul, and Frank’s husband Andre Mayem (Nik Alexander), a confident, expansive costume artiste who adores Donna Summer. For Daniel, they create a persona that is part Julia Child, part the Queen, and a little Margaret Thatcher.
Comedians have mined drag for humor for ages, with men posing as women offering the deepest humor vein, and “Mrs. Doubtfire” revives this old tradition but with a cast able to take full advantage of the comic potential. The stage production also adds the very funny, bickering gay couple and the comic pressure of on-stage quick changes required to maintain the double identity farce, quick changes which get faster and more frantic as the show progresses. Branton handles this breathless technical challenge with high energy, fearlessness and aplomb.
Alex Branton was excellent as Daniel, and he really carries most of the show. However, outstanding supporting players include Maggie Lakis as Miranda, who had carried the burden of being the sole grown-up in her marriage too long, and is now ready for some new horizons. Also good were Aaron Kaburick and Nik Alexander, as the mismatched gay couple Frank and Andre, with nervous Frank having a habit of speaking loudly when he is forced to lie, and energetic, take-charge Andre Mayem ready to break into song and dance out of frustration with his husband Frank’s jitters. Romelda Teron Benjamin was also very good as the brittle, exacting social worker assigned by the court to make Daniel comply with the judge’s orders.
Of course, “Mrs. Doubtfire” is also a musical, and there are plenty of songs. Actually, the show pack in a lot of songs – 13 in Act 1 and 9 in Act 2 – but not all are big production numbers and some of the songs are rather short but effective in briskly getting their character or plot point across. The opening number of “That’s Daniel” illustrates his immature, socially clueless tendencies in an ensemble number that has Daniel running over the feelings of several people, in a quick, humorous and effective way to explain the source of problems in his marriage and at work. Daniel’s solo in “I Want To Be There” touchingly illuminates his love for his kids, while the hilarious make-over song “Make Me A Woman,” sung by Daniel, Frank, Andre and the ensemble is the first act’s comic big production number and a highlight. “Mr. Jolly Theme Song” is a clever creative number built around the TV studio’s wish to update an aging children’s show, an opportunity for Daniel to show what he can do, and Branton to showcase his talents as a comedian. “Big Fat No” is another hilarious number, sung by Mrs. Doubtfire and ensemble. In the second act, a comic musical number by a flamenco singer/dancer performing in a restaurant, “He Lied To Me,” provides fun satiric counterpoint, while the farce of Daniel juggling personas is unfolding in the restaurant.
The delightfully surprising “Mrs. Doubtfire” provided a lot more fun and entertainment than expected, and it is the perfect anecdote to any post-holiday doldrums. “Mrs. Doubtfire” is at the Fabulous Fox through January 7.
© Cate Marquis
