Hellooooo!
Last week I got to see Mrs. Doubtfire, the new comedy musical at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London, the musical is based on the 1993 film of the same name, starring legendary actor Robin Williams. Set in San Francisco, California, the story follows Daniel Hillard (Gabriel Vick) who after a bitter divorce from wife Miranda (Laura Tebbutt) loses custody of his children however when his ex-wife puts out an advert for a nanny, Daniel decides to disguise himself as a hip old granny to spend time with his kids, which is when Mrs. Doubtfire is born.
I am not going to lie, I was very sceptical re one of my all-time favourite comedy films being turned into a stage musical, considering there are no original songs in the 1993 film I really didn’t know how they were going to pull it off. Even after being seated, reading through the programme and the lights dimming for the start of the performance I was still thinking to myself I don’t think this is going to be any good, I had already decided so I wouldn’t get disappointed BUT your be glad to hear I was wrong!
On occasion they veered away from the original 1993 American comedy directed by Chris Columbus, but I was glad to see many of the sidesplittingly hilarious scenes remain, in particular the scene with social worker Wanda Sellner played by Kelly Agbowu, visits Daniels apartment where he uses the cream from the fridge to hide his identity, and also the restaurant scene where Daniel is out to dinner with both the Hillard family and his potential new TV director boss, however this was slightly changed from the film scene, but worked perfectly due to the changes being musical related.
Gabriel Vick was fantastic as Daniel Hillard, it was like watching a musical theatre version of Robin Williams, so incredibly talented and so perfect in this role, the genius comedic timing, the voices and bringing the musical based on a 1993 film into the current day, incorporating jokes re Wi-Fi which wouldn’t have existed in 1993, and references to the royal family, and even a cameo from Nigella Lawson, also brings that little bit of British into the show which I liked.
“Make Me A Women” was my fave musical number, Daniel enlists the help of his showbiz make-up artist brother Frank (Cameron Blakely) and his husband Andre (Marcus Collins) to transform him into a women, Mrs. Doubtfire is ultimately created, but during the process multiple looks are offered, from Lady Di to Donna Summer, it was a fantastic musical number. Marcus Collins rose to fame in the X factor some years ago, and I have seen him in Hair The Musical in the past, and he was great in this. Cameron Blakely was hilarious as Frank Hillard, the character has a problem telling lies, and whenever he does, the volume of his voice massively increases which is a long standing issue throughout the show and kept the audience laughing throughout.
Samuel Edwards plays the role of Stuart Dunmire, the James Bond reference was appreciated in one of his opening scenes, I liked the twenty twenty reincarnation of this character, they made him current, and I LOVED Kelly Agbowu as Wanda Sellner. And finally the children, Lydia is played by Carla Dixon-Hernandez who does the majority of singing out of the kids, she is seen as the older teen, who is trying to be strong for her younger siblings, Christopher is played by Elliot Mugume and Natalie played by Scarlett Davies, all did a sterling job, I partially enjoyed Carla Dixon-Hernandez’s rendition of “Just Pretend” with Gabriel Vick.
I wasn’t mad about the songs, only a few have stuck in my head and have made my musical Spotify playlist, but the comedy and show in general makes up for this. It could easily have had no music, and I still would’ve loved it as much as I did. Gabriel Vick really does make the show, I loved how nostalgic it was, with that added spice of the twenty-twenties.
Anyone who loves the film will adore the musical, Mrs. Doubtfire the Musical is currently booking until Saturday, 13th January 2024, book tickets HERE as soon as you can!
“All My Love To You, Poppet”