‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ Musical Sets Spring Broadway Bow

Euphegenia Doubtfire reporting for Broadway duty.

The incognito nanny immortalized by Robin Williams in the 1993 family comedy will take on additional song-and-dance responsibilities when the new stage musical adaptation of Mrs. Doubtfire hits New York in the spring.

Producer Kevin McCollum announced today that the show will begin previews March 9 ahead of an official April 5 opening at Broadway’s Stephen Sondheim Theatre, where Beautiful: The Carole King Musical is due to end its hit run next week after almost six years.

The musical will star Rob McClure in the title role of out-of-work actor Daniel Hillard, who loses custody of his children in a bitter divorce and takes the desperate measure of posing as a Scottish nanny in order to remain in their lives. 

Jenn Gambatese will play his ex-wife, Miranda Hillard, the role played onscreen by Sally Field, with Brad Oscar stepping into the shoes of Harvey Fierstein as Daniel’s makeup-artist brother Frank, who helps him create his cross-dressing disguise. The Pierce Brosnan role of Miranda’s new boyfriend, Stuart Dunmeyer, will be played by Mark Evans, while Analise Scarpaci, Jake Ryan Flynn and Avery Sell will appear as the Hillards’ three children.

The cast also includes J. Harrison Ghee, Charity Angel Dawson, Peter Bartlett and others to be announced.

Four-time Tony Award-winning veteran Jerry Zaks will direct the show, which features a book by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell, with music and lyrics by Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick, the same team behind the 2015 musical comedy Something Rotten!, also produced by McCollum. Lorin Latarro will serve as choreographer, with Ethan Popp as music supervisor.

Before its Broadway arrival, Mrs. Doubtfire will play a world-premiere tryout engagement at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre, running Nov. 26-Dec. 29. The show is being presented by special arrangement with Buena Vista Theatrical, which controls the stage rights to Fox properties since Disney’s acquisition of the studio.

Directed by Chris Columbus from a screenplay by Randi Mayem Singer and Leslie Dixon, the Mrs. Doubtfire movie was made on a $25 million budget and grossed $219 million in domestic release for Fox, with an additional $222 million internationally.

While locking up the Stephen Sondheim Theatre takes care of one major incoming musical production, a number of others reportedly are still looking for homes to open this season. Among those rumored to be hunting Broadway real estate are Cameron Crowe’s stage adaptation of Almost Famous, which just premiered to strong reviews at San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre; and a transfer of the award-winning 2017 off-Broadway hit KPOP, an immersive, behind-the-scenes tour of a fictional Korean pop music factory.

Tickets for the Mrs. Doubtfire musical go on sale Nov. 1 to the general public through Telecharge, with American Express presale starting today.