“Mrs. Doubtfire,” the musical comedy adaptation of the 1993 movie of the same name, came to Indiana University Auditorium on Feb. 28, leaving the crowd laughing and cheering.
The musical follows Daniel (Chaz Ingraham) as he goes through a divorce and loses custody of his kids. In an attempt to spend more time with his children, he disguises himself as a Scottish nanny, Mrs. Doubtfire, who not only brings order to their home, but also brings the family back together again. But, of course, living this double life turns into a chaotic and humorous juggling of identities as Daniel must learn to do what is best for his family.
I went into the musical with pretty low expectations as I haven’t always been the biggest fan of musical adaptations of classic movies, often finding them unnecessary and overdone. However, “Mrs. Doubtfire” really surprised me.
Comedy is hit or miss with me a lot of times, but this musical was jam packed with humor, and it had the entire theater constantly laughing. This was largely thanks to understudy Chaz Ingraham’s performance as Daniel and Mrs. Doubtfire as he was able to bring the role to life with effortless humor. I was immediately impressed with his ability to do impressions, which is another challenging facet of this role I hadn’t even considered going into it.
The musical opened right off the bat with Daniel in a recording booth speedrunning several impressions, including Elmo, Mickey Mouse and Kermit the Frog, which instantly made me understand that Ingraham was going to deliver an amazing performance as Mrs. Doubtfire.
It can be challenging to go into a role like Mrs. Doubtfire, which has such an iconic portrayal in Robin Williams’ performance in the movie; however, the musical manages to honor Williams’ original role while also breathing new life into it.
The musical is set in the modern day, rather than the ‘90s, and I was curious how this change would affect the heart of the story, but it worked very well and added to the humor. The musical made many pop culture references, which made me appreciate the change in time period, because as a member of Gen-Z, I highly doubt I would have understood references made from the ‘90s and earlier, like the references in the original film to “Sunset Boulevard” or “Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.”
The rest of the cast was equally as talented, with powerful vocals from Melissa Campbell, who plays Daniel’s ex-wife, and a grounded and emotional performance from Giulia Marolda, the understudy for Daniel’s daughter Lydia. I also loved the ensemble who brought a lot of energy to the larger numbers.
I was also pleasantly surprised by the songs in the musical. While they may not be the most memorable songs ever, they all work very well within the show and help give it more energy, rather than feeling unnecessary.
The dance numbers accompanying the songs were electric, with my personal favorites being “Make Me a Woman” and “Easy Peasy,” which featured a full tap dance. It was both humorous and relatable to me as someone who has also tried to follow cooking videos while trying not to burn the house down.
However, one of the most amazing parts of this show is the quick changes. I was so curious how one actor was going to be able to play both Daniel and Mrs. Doubtfire live, switching in and out of two very different costumes so quickly, and not only did the musical manage to do it flawlessly, it exceeded my expectations.
A quick change off stage would be one thing, but the musical has the actor playing Daniel fully change in and out of the Mrs. Doubtfire ensemble on stage, with the whole audience viewing the transformation.
It was truly an astounding feat and only increased the respect I had for the actor after getting to see the process of turning into Mrs. Doubtfire. Ingraham revealed in the post-show discussion with the audience that he has a total of 32 quick changes throughout the show, so I can’t even begin to imagine how exhausting playing this role must be, but he did it brilliantly.
But what this show truly does best is balancing the over-the-top humor with heart. It had been a long time since I had seen the original film, so I had forgotten just how vulnerable and emotional this story truly is past the shenanigans and quick-witted comedy.
The characters all feel very real and go on an emotional journey throughout the musical that puts on display the power and importance of love. I’m sure this is a story many families would be able to relate to, and I think that is what really makes it stick with people and stand the test of time.
