Mrs. Doubtfire REVIEW: The Show Wasn’t a Drag, But There Sure Was a Lot In It!

By Lloyd McDonald

Most are familiar with the movie “Mrs. Doubtfire,” and the musical stays on script with all of the humorous moments. This show is a high-energy rendition of the story about the quirky, loveable, Daniel.

Daniel is oblivious to the marital troubles that his humorous, yet childish antics are creating. After losing his job and his marriage in a short period, the unemployed Daniel loses the three most important things in his life — his children.

After the reality of his situation sets in, Daniel’s quirky creativity kicks in, and he uses his talents of improvisation, voice acting, and empathy to get his ex-wife to hire Mrs. Doubtfire to be the nanny for his children. His ex-wife doesn’t realize that her new hire, Mrs. Doubtfire, is Daniel in disguise.

In character, Daniel gets his kids whipped into shape and his wife finds Mrs. Doubtfire charming — even feeling comfortable confiding in her. While Daniel is in character, he has conversations with his ex-wife and realizes that she isn’t the shrew as he thought she was. Simultaneously, his ex-wife also realizes that Daniel isn’t nearly the man-child she thought — only that he loves his children and wants them to have a happy, carefree childhood with memories.

Inevitably, Daniel gets found out. First, by his children who begrudgingly keep the secret. Although they don’t like it, they think it is better to see their dad this way than not at all. Then, by his ex-wife and her business partner/boyfriend who has no sense of humor about how creatively Daniel has gotten to
see his kids, help the family grow, and even helping their business out in several pinches.

All of this happens during a comedy of errors while he is juggling the interview to land his dream job of doing an entertaining children’s show as Daniel and a celebratory dinner with his ex-wife, her boyfriend, and his children as Mrs. Doubtfire.

Even for comedic Broadway Shows, the writing and music are humorous, entertaining, and high energy. The performers deliver with excellent comedic timing. The strong cast of supporting actors — each going toe to toe with Daniel, his wit, and his humor — keeps everyone on their toes including the audience. If you have the opportunity to see this show, you should take it without hesitation.

Know Before You Go

WHAT: Mrs. Doubtfire
WHERE: Tennessee Performing Arts Center, Andrew Jackson Hall
WHEN: November 7-12, 2023
HOW: Buy Tickets Online HERE
MORE: Length of show is approx. 2 hours and 35 minutes with one intermission

1. _{^{(L to R) Axel Bernard Rimmele (Christopher Hillard), Giselle Gutierrez (Lydia Hillard), Rob McClure (Euphegenia Doubtfire), and Kennedy Pitney (Natalie Hillard)}} ↩︎
2. _{^{First National Touring Company of Mrs. Doubtfire}} ↩︎