Contains spoilers.
I was recently sitting in another Birmingham city-centre theatre when I got chatting to a lady who told me she was a regular theatre-goer. Naturally, I asked her what the best show she had ever seen was.
Her answer? Mrs. Doubtfire the Musical.
“Really?” I remember thinking, with more than a little disbelief.
I’d never considered Mrs. Doubtfire a film that particularly needed to become a musical and while I remembered the 1993 Robin Williams classic fondly, it certainly wasn’t a film I would have put at the top of my list of potential stage adaptations.
So, if I’m being honest, I walked into Birmingham Hippodrome with a healthy dose of cynicism.
How wrong I was.
Based on the much-loved 1993 film, Mrs. Doubtfire the Musical takes the story of Daniel Hillard, a father desperate to spend more time with his children following the breakdown of his marriage and turns it into an energetic, colourful and gloriously chaotic stage production.
And somehow, it works. Not just works, in fact, it’s one of the best musicals I’ve seen.
At around two and a half hours, the show absolutely flies by. The pace is relentless without ever feeling rushed, with scenes seamlessly woven together and barely a moment to catch your breath before the next gag, song, dance number or piece of chaos arrives.
There are so many memorable moments that it’s difficult to mention them all.
The kitchen scene is a particular highlight, cleverly brought into the modern era with a playful nod to social media tutorials and advertising, alongside dancing, physical comedy and the kind of gloriously over-the-top slapstick that had the audience roaring.
There’s a wonderfully inventive sequence in which Daniel uses a live loop machine and beatboxing to improvise a lesson about telling the time, involving the puppet characters Mousy and Ratty, one of those moments that sounds completely absurd on paper but is genuinely brilliant on stage.
Then there’s the transformation itself.
Daniel’s brother Frank, played by Ryan Pidgen, and his husband Andre, played by Jairus McClannahan, use their professional skills to help transform Daniel into his undercover Scottish nanny alter ego, Euphegenia Doubtfire. The resulting musical number, ‘Make Me a Woman’, is every bit as outrageous and entertaining as you could hope for.
And while audiences may not arrive knowing the musical numbers in the same way they know the film, that really doesn’t matter. The songs feel thoughtfully woven into the story rather than simply dropped in because this happens to be a musical. Each number moves the narrative forward, develops the characters or delivers another layer of comedy and that is a big part of what gives the show its remarkable momentum.
At the centre of it all is Gabriel Vick, who plays Daniel Hillard and Mrs. Doubtfire. He is quite simply the silk thread holding the whole production together.
The pressure of stepping into a character so iconic and so closely associated with Robin Williams must be immense. Yet Gabriel Vick makes the role his own. His physicality, comic timing and sheer energy are impressive, but it’s the warmth and vulnerability beneath the comedy that really stand out. The result is a performance that is simply brilliant.
Credit must also go to Aaliya Mai, who plays Lydia and the young cast members playing her siblings. Their performances bring another dimension to the family story, particularly during ‘What the Hell’, which is another memorable musical moment.
And then there’s James Darch, who plays Stuart Dunmire, Claire’s new love interest and the man Mrs. Doubtfire is determined to put off. His wonderfully comic performance in ‘Big Fat No’, alongside Mrs. Doubtfire, is a real crowd-pleaser, as the increasingly desperate attempts to derail Stuart provide plenty of laughs.
Of course, none of this would work without the phenomenal ensemble. The precision, energy and sheer scale of the choreography surrounding the principal cast are impressive, and it’s this combination of performances, staging, music, comedy and slick production that makes Mrs. Doubtfire feel much bigger than a simple stage adaptation of a beloved film.
The audience response said everything. There was laughter throughout the evening the kind of spontaneous, uninhibited laughter that you don’t always hear in a theatre. And when the curtain finally came down, the immediate standing ovation felt thoroughly deserved. Looking around the Hippodrome, it was clear I wasn’t the only person who had been won over.
So, to the lady I met in that other Birmingham theatre who told me Mrs. Doubtfire was the best show she had ever seen: I owe you an apology. You were right.
If, like me, you’re hesitant about seeing Mrs. Doubtfire the Musical, don’t be.
Grab a ticket, take your friends, settle in and prepare to laugh.
You might just find yourself leaving the theatre wondering why you ever doubted it in the first place.
