It’s the beloved film that spawned what seems like a hundred catchphrases, mainly due to the genius of Robin Wiliams and his portrayal of a plaid clad Scottish nanny. Following runs on Broadway and in Manchester, Mrs. Doubtfire The Musical, directed by Jerry Zaks, arrives in style at London’s Shaftesbury Theatre.
The comedy musical with a book by John O’Farrell follows the plot of the film pretty closely, making sure to incorporate all those well-remembered lines much to the delight of audiences. For reasons of practicality on stage, the water park scene is replaced with a bathing suit fashion show set in a gym, and miraculously it works even better.
It’s still set in San Francisco, and has been updated to include more modern references, though these seem to span both the UK and US; certainly, these raise laughs from a London audience but do feel a little out of place.
There are very few people, if any, who could portray a Robin Williams character with the same energy and comic unpredictability as the man himself did (see Will Smith in the live action Aladdin, for example), yet Gabriel Vick comes pretty damn close. As Daniel Hillard and the titular Mrs. Doubtfire, Vick is electric on stage, giving a performance that balances loving father with fun-loving, if misguided, comic.
Vick is undeniably the star of the show, and handles the relentless switching between characters with ease. But also stealing the show are the three young actors playing the Hillard children (Frankie Treadaway and Ava Posniak as Christopher and Natalie at this performance) alongside Carla Dixon-Hernandez as Lydia. Dixon-Hernandez also leads on one of the best songs of the show, ‘What The Hell.’
Laura Tebbutt is exceptional as Miranda, close your eyes and you’d be convinced it was Sally Field you were listening to, and the character’s big solo, ‘Let Go’ is another standout song. That said, you probably won’t go home humming any of Wayne and Karey Kirkpatrick’s musical numbers, but in the moment they all work perfectly well.
Samuel Edwards as Stuart and Marcus Collins as Andre also proved to be audience favourites, and there’s a couple of joyous cameo’s from Ian Talbot as Mr Jolly. Not all the supporting cast deliver such strong performances; yes it’s a cheesy musical but these characters don’t need to be hammed up quite as much.
Those who are fans of the film will love this stage adaptation. It’s incredibly funny, toe-tappingly good and full of heart. It’s almost worth catching just for the superb quick changes that see Vick transform into Euphegenia, sometimes quite literally, in front of our eyes. Mrs. Doubtfire The Musical is the fun night out you never knew you needed.
