CD Review: Mrs Doubtfire The Musical

MRS DOUBTFIRE THE MUSICAL – Original Broadway Cast (Ghostlight Records – download)

Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩

Mrs Doubtfire, that vehicle for Robin Williams back in the 90s, was an entertaining film and should really have been left as such. But Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick (music and lyrics) and book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell, the team behind Something Rotten!, thought it a good idea to turn it into a musical.

Daniel Hillard, a struggling, out-of-work actor, will do anything for his kids. After losing custody in a messy divorce, he creates the kindly alter ego of Scottish nanny Euphegenia Doubtfire in a desperate attempt to stay in their lives. As his new character takes on a life of its own, Mrs Doubtfire teaches Daniel more than he bargained for about how to be a father.

Now, I haven’t actually seen the stage production and am only reviewing the cast recording and maybe it plays better on stage than on this recording. I am disappointed because the team behind this had given us the wonderful Something Rotten! with its witty and clever dialogue and songs. Here we have a run-of-the-mill show with songs that could have come out of any mediocre musical. With hints at ballad, rock, pop and comedy songs, it really just comes over on the recording as a mish-mash of possibilities. One of the comic songs did stick out and that was ‘Big Fat No’ – if only this had been the template for the rest of the album.

The album features the Broadway cast that opened the show on 5 December 2021, including Tony Award nominee Rob McClure as Daniel Hillard/Mrs Doubtfire, Jenn Gambatese as Miranda Hillard, Peter Bartlett as Mr. Jolly, Charity Angél Dawson as Wanda Sellner, Mark Evans as Stuart Dunmire, J. Harrison Ghee as Andre Mayem, Analise Scarpaci as Lydia Hillard, Jake Ryan Flynn as Christopher Hillard, Avery Sell as Natalie Hillard and Tony Award nominee Brad Oscar as Frank Hillard.

Tracks are: ‘What’s Wrong With This Picture’, ‘I Want to Be There’, ‘Make Me a Woman’, ‘What the Hell’, ‘Mr Jolly Theme’, ‘Easy Peasy’, ‘I’m Rockin’ Now’, ‘The shape of Things to Come’, ‘Big Fat No’, ‘Let Go’, ‘The Mess I’ve Made’, ‘She’s Happy’, ‘You’ve Been Playing with Fire’, ‘Welcome to La Rosa’, He Lied To Me’, ‘Just Pretend’, ‘As Long As there Is Love (part 1)’ and ‘As Long As There Is Love (part 2)’.

Perhaps it plays hysterically well on stage but, judging from the cast recording, I think this would be one I might just give a miss.

Nick Wakeham